


Nicotine

by lil_cbt



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dancing, Lap dancing, M/M, Pole Dancing, Rhys is a dancer, Smoking, i have no idea how to tag this, in the future I swear, just a little bit idk, that can't keep their hands to themselves, there are some nameless assholes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:15:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_cbt/pseuds/lil_cbt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's just trying to run a damn company. He didn't ask for these incompetent assholes, or his friend inviting herself into his workspace all willy-nilly like she owned the place because, really, she didn't. He did. He also didn't ask for the haunting image of that dancer to invade his thoughts day in and day out.<br/>Because frankly - it was getting really goddamn annoying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry I don't know what this is or where this is going but I had this idea while listening Nicotine by Panic! At the Disco.  
> First fic thing here, I'm really nervous posting this. I'm still feeling out the characters and I hope they aren't too out of character.  
> Not beta'd, just read over multitudes of times - and I'm tired of looking at it and willing myself to post it.  
> Also please let me know if I need to tag anything else. I still don't know what to tag.  
> So I'll just drop this here and run now (before I change my mind again).

It had been a very long week for Jack. A very, very long week. The last time the Hyperion CEO checked the calendar, it was only Wednesday, and his patience was running thin. The subordinates underneath him didn’t seem to understand that he was trying to run a company. They would come up to his desk asking stupid question after stupid question, hour after hour, minute after minute, making it very difficult for him to actually do his fucking job and be the CEO. He was going to make damned sure that the next asshole that messed up was getting a one-way ticket out the front door, foot up the ass included. Unfortunately that person was the shaking figure in front of him at the moment. The stuttering voice was starting to get on Jack’s nerves as the person who owned it stood in front of him, trying to explain why some very important reports were still not on his desk when they were due by that morning and it was now the late afternoon. His scowl deepened over his scarred face as another excuse passed by his ears.

“I’m not asking for excuses, kiddo,” he leaned forward in his chair, his intimidating stature even more so as he seemed to tower over the cowering man. One of his arms banged on the wooden desk, causing the man to flinch harshly. “I’m asking why the reports are so goddamn late!” his voice boomed, echoing in the mostly empty office, causing the man in front of him to wince and shake even more so.

“H-Handsome Ja-Jack, sir, please,” the man pleaded. “If I-I could just have a bit more time, I could get them to yo-you by…tomorrow?” he gave his boss a hopeful, quivering smile.

“Does ‘on my desk by this morning’ mean anything to your little brain?” Jack growled, not offering the man an inch. His eyes narrowed as he took in a sharp breath, “And another thing –,” he began, about to say something else demeaning to the shaking man, before his intercom buzzed with a message, interrupting him. “What?!” he shouted, slamming down on the button.

“Sir, there’s a sales representative with some reports here to see you,” the female voice on the other line replied, not seeming to be at all perturbed by Jack’s apparent bad mood.

Jack paused, seeming to collect his thoughts, and also calming down his anger, having to focus to slow down his breaths. He hummed quietly in response after a few seconds, looking back at the man in front of him in thought, pressing the button on the intercom to reply. “Send them in, I think I need to teach Johnson here a lesson in time management.” The man, Johnson, only whimpered pathetically at his name being hissed from Jack’s lips. 

Jack simply stared at the other man in the room, trapping him with his mismatched glare until the door opened slowly, catching both of their attentions. They were joined by a rather awkwardly tall, lanky, brown, almost amber haired man as he inched his way into the room nervously. If his face didn’t give away his nervousness, his body language sure did as he avoided any and all eye contact. His body was rigid and he kept simply glancing either at the walls or the ceiling, the fingers of his left hand toying with multiple folders under his right – mechanical – arm. That was one of the first things that Jack noticed about the kid – the mechanical arm. Hyperion tech, nothing fancy, pretty basic, but it was always cool to see the tech he thought up being used in the real world. Warmed his heart. The second thing he noticed were the mismatched eyes that the young man had, not that much unlike his own. He could see the mismatched gaze that rested on him for a moment as he silently took in the new visitor was a mix of warm brown and icy blue. It took Jack no more than few seconds to realize that the blue eye accompanying the brown was an ECHO eye when it focused on him and glowed brightly for a second before dimming down as the young man blinked rather forcefully, his whole forehead creasing with the effort.

“You called for me…sir?” the nervous voice asked, eyes open once more, after being stared at by Jack for a few seconds.

“You’re here to give me reports, right? Can’t exactly give me the reports from all the way over there, can you, kiddo?” he asked, voice still a tad bit sharp as he watched the young man flinch from the voice suddenly directed at him.

“Yes sir, I mean…no-no sir, I suppose not…” the young man stuttered before walking deeper into the room until he was standing beside the man Jack had been yelling at earlier. He fidgeted with the papers, staring down at the polished floors of Jack’s office hesitantly for a second before looking up at Jack with his mismatched gaze. He didn’t meet eyes, but Jack gave the kid credit for at least not staring at the floor all the time when he stood in front of his superior. Kid had guts.

“Papers, kiddo,” Jack urged, holding out a hand with a grabbing motion.

“O-Oh, right. Sorry, sir.” The young man replied, handing over the folders that Jack snatched from his grasp. He turned around in his chair flipping through them quickly, his visitors sharing nervous glances at each other before Jack turned back around suddenly grinning wide, pure white teeth showing.

“Whoa ho ho…sales rep. You have reports in here that aren’t due for weeks. Gotta say…I’m impressed.” Jack grinned, the praise falling from his lips sounding unfamiliar. He couldn’t remember the last time he told an employee ‘good job’.

“T-thank you, sir. I like to be ahead of things.” The brown haired male replied, it was at the praise that he met Jack’s eyes a small bit of flush to his cheeks as his eyes shone.

Jack nodded at the sales rep, smile at his lips at the eye contact. He could get used to that. “Well good, that’s the type of employee Hyperion needs, ahead of the curve, leader of the pack, top of the pyramid. Eh, you get my drift,” he commented with a dismissive wave of the hand before looking back at Johnson. “Unlike some assholes. A sales rep is ahead of you by three hundred miles and you have nothing but jack squat to show me. You’re the head of accounting and you need to fucking act like it! Wait, no-,” Jack shook his head, interrupting his own thoughts and running a hand down his face. “You know what? I’m tired of dealing with your shit and your excuses, and on top of all that, I’m tired of dealing with you especially!” Jack stood up out of his chair, leaning his weight on the desk with both of his arms, focusing on the cowering man. The sales rep even took a step away from the desk and the man who was receiving the full blunt of Jack’s anger, flinching at Jack’s raised voice.

“Please Mr. Handsome Jack, sir, I just…need another chance!”

“No more chances, Johnson! You’re fired! Pack up your stuff! I want you out of my sight by today! ” Jack growled out, watching as the man’s whole body slumped heavily. He dragged himself out of the room, closing it wordlessly, quietly. Jack’s word was law around here after all. Jack slumped back into his chair with a sigh when the door closed, pushing his hair back into place from where it had fallen out of its slicked back state when he had been yelling at Johnson. Maybe now that Johnson was gone shit would start getting done in the accounting department. He’d had multiple complaints about the now ex-head of the department. But now it was Jack’s job to start looking for a replacement for him. He let out a quiet, frustrated groan.

“Sir?” a quiet voice shook him out of his thoughts and his mismatched gaze shot up to the sales rep, eyes sharp. “I uh…”

“Why are you still here?” Jack asked, eyes narrowing as he sat up straighter in his chair, looking more like a CEO.

“Sir I just…I need this paper signed…” he hesitantly handed over a paper that Jack snatched from his grasp and read over quickly. It basically said that the sales rep handed over the proper documentation and blah blah blah. This was stuff that Jack didn’t really need to worry about, but it seemed important to the sales rep. And hey, the kid helped him out. Jack signed the bottom in quick, easy and familiar strokes with a nearby pen, throwing the paper back to the sales rep who struggled to grab it as it threatened to flutter to the floor.

“There,” Jack ran his hand down his face, feeling the indent of his scar underneath his fingertips. “Ugh, sorry, kiddo…it’s just been a…stressful day.” He grumbled, not looking up at the sales rep as he shook his head. He didn’t really know what he was saying all of a sudden, words just spilling out of his mouth. “The extra work you’ve put into the sales reports actually helps me a lot, so thanks for that.” He looked up at the sales rep who seemed to be positively beaming from the praise, mouth open in a small ‘o’ and a gentle creeping of red on his face, grasping the paper close to his chest. Jack grinned a toothy smile as he looked at the sales rep, chuckling. “Your face is going to stick like that, pumpkin.” He commented, watching that as soon as he said that, the rep’s mouth snapped shut.

“O-oh, well I uh…I’ll just take my leave then, sir. Thank you for your time, Mr. Handsome Jack, sir,” the sales rep replied in a quiet voice as he turned around and made his way out of the office.

“Kid, wait,” Jack called suddenly, watching as the metal-armed sales rep stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Jack, two mismatched gazes meeting each other. “What’s your name?”

“Rhys, sir. My name is Rhys.” The sales rep said with a gentle smile as he began his exit again, Jack watching his every move with a thoughtful stare until he saw the sales rep pause at the door and turn around. “And sir? I hope your day gets better.” He disappeared through the large doors after those last few words, leaving Jack staring at his empty office.

“Me too kid,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. Jack noticed that the air in the office felt a little lighter when the sales rep left as he let out a sigh, turning back to his papers.

“Me too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Rhys had been in a sort of daze throughout the rest of the day. Fulfilling the rest of the workday had been a hard task after being in Handsome Jack’s office. He was glad he had been ahead on those reports that he had turned in to the CEO because not much had gotten done when he had plopped back into his cubicle in the sales department. He would type a few lines of a report, chew on a pencil eraser or a pen cap, tap on his desk with a mechanical finger until his neighbor in the cubicle to his left told him to shut up. He’d try to work again after that, until something else distracted him. His mind just kept running back to when he first entered those large oak doors. He had tried his hardest not to single in on Jack when he first entered, even though he really wanted to. His ECHO eye had begun to read the CEO without his go ahead, and he had to force it to stop. Sometimes the thing had a mind of it’s own. Throughout the entire time he had been lingering in the doorway of the CEO’s office, he had felt Jack’s eyes on him. It had made him feel tiny and small at first, but the second those words of praise had left Jack’s lips – Rhys had felt like he was on top of the world.

Jack had been impressed, by him. By simple, little Rhys. It made him smile when he ran his mind back over the turn of events, replaying that little moment when Jack had read the reports and told him that he was impressed by his work ethic over a department head. It was unreal.

“Yo,” a voice interrupted his thoughts and a hand waved in front of Rhys’ face, attempting to grab his attention, fingers snapping close to his face as well. “Earth to Rhys, come in Rhys.” Rhys snapped back to reality, and looked at his two best friends. They were all sitting at a table together at the food court in a mall near the Hyperion building. Rhys blinked hard, recollecting his thoughts. That’s right. He had gone to look for one of his friends after having left Handsome Jack’s office, almost running into Yvette, literally. Afterwards the two of them grabbed Vaughn and dragged him away from work so that they could catch up on what happened during the work day over some decent, greasy food. It was their daily thing.

“Houston, we have a problem. Rhys is lost on planet Handsome Jack.” Vaughn mumbled to Yvette after being stared at by Rhys for about a minute, Yvette giggling in response. It was spoken softly enough so that only the three at the table could hear it, but loud enough that Rhys could hear it over the rest of the commotion in the food court.

“Hey!” Rhys exclaimed.

“There he is,” Yvette grinned, taking another sip of her lemonade.

“Where was I?” Rhys asked, grabbing his own drink, water, taking a few mouthfuls before setting it back down.

“You were about to tell us how you managed to infiltrate Handsome Jack’s office,” Yvette replied, leaning back in the chair, arms crossed.

Rhys gave her a weird look at the choice of words, but shrugged, letting his elbows rest on the table and leaning on them a bit as he retold the story, his friends listening intently. Vaughn’s eyebrows creased when he heard the name Johnson slip from Rhys’ lips when he got to the part about Jack yelling at and firing the former employee. Vaughn filled in that he was – or used to be now – the head of the accounting department, noticing that Yvette had a confused look on her face when both of them mentioned his name. Retelling the story was easy, the past hours simply like a slide-show on replay in Rhys’ mind, he couldn’t help the upward twitch of his lips when he was able to retell how Handsome Jack praised him for his work – maybe overplaying it a bit as he retold it – but his friends continued to listen without interruptions, seeming to be interested in the events, or at least acting like they were for Rhys’ benefit. Either worked for him.

“So you were actually…inside Handsome Jack’s office. Like the Handsome Jack. Our CEO?” Vaughn asked after Rhys finished his story, his own eyes narrowed, head resting on his hand. He got a nod in reply from his cybernetic friend. “Big, scary, ‘I’ll fire the lot of you if you don’t get back to work!’ That Handsome Jack?” Vaughn asked again, making his voice go into a deeper octave as he tried to imitate the leader of Hyperion. Rhys raised an eyebrow at his friend, both at the numerous questions, and at the horrible impression, looking to Yvette who simply shrugged.

“Yes Vaughn, I was in Handsome Jack’s office. Instead of dropping the reports off like we meager little grunts always do, I was actually invited inside.” Rhys answered with a confident nod.

“I’m just having a hard time believing it since the only people who go into Jack’s office are his receptionist, people who get fired, and…himself,” Vaughn replied, counting on his fingers while he spoke. He looked at the meager amount of digits and motioned to them with his opposite hand, looking at Rhys with an unamused expression.

Rhys rolled his eyes when Vaughn pointed out the digits, shaking his head and heaving out a sigh as he leaned back in the chair. “Well, I went in, okay? He congratulated me on my excellent work and I got out unscathed, plus,” he held out a finger to stop either of his friends from interrupting, Vaughn and Yvette sharing glances with each other before looking back at Rhys. “I still have my job.”

“Not for long if you keep skipping out to keep fantasizing about our CEO,” Yvette said with a smug smile, to which Vaughn backed her up with a long, drawn out “Ooooooh!” accompanied with a “She told you!”. The two exchanging high fives while Rhys glared at them.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up, jerks,” Rhys grumbled, taking another few sips of his water as Vaughn and Yvette snickered together. He let himself think that he didn’t fantasize about the CEO, but the 'motivational' posters he had hanging in his cubicle weren’t the only ones he had.

After allowing himself some time to sulk - only surfacing when he got a playful nudge from Vaughn and a gentle kick in the shin from Yvette - he began to watch his two best friends chatter away at each other. From what Rhys was catching of their conversation, Vaughn didn’t seem too worried that the head of his department was gone now, though it might be difficult without him for a bit until someone replaced him.

Apparently he hadn’t of been that good of a fit when he was hired anyway.

The accountants were a tight knit group that worked well together.They’d pull through, especially with Vaughn on their side.

Rhys let his mismatched gaze turn to Yvette as she nodded along to what Vaughn was saying, speaking about her own day, apparently it wasn’t the worst she’s ever had, but it was pretty bad. She worked at the front desk. When visitors or scheduled appointments came in, she directed them where they needed to go, or answered any questions they had. It was an important job that gave people their first impressions of Hyperion, it also required a lot of patience…something that Yvette sometimes didn’t have.

Rhys let out a quiet sigh. The two in front of him were his closest friends. They knew everything about him – right down to his shoe size. They even knew some of his dirtiest secrets because in all honesty, he would tell Vaughn something, and Vaughn would just go right ahead and tell Yvette. Rhys didn't really mind though. There was never one without the other, and all three together was just perfect. Rhys wouldn’t know where he would be without them. He probably wouldn't be here, at his dream job, at his dream company, working under his idol. He had been pushed to do so much by them, leaps and bounds that he would’ve never had the guts to do himself had it not been for the two in front of him. He wouldn’t be the man he was today without them. The thought made him smile.

“Rhys?” Yvette asked, eyebrow raised.

“Hmm?” Rhys hummed in reply, grin still on his lips.

“You do realize you’ve been staring and smiling at us for…” she paused, looking at her phone that was resting on the table. “Like five minutes, right? Kinda creepy.”

“Fine, I won’t look at you guys, jeez,” Rhys teased as he felt Vaughn’s own foot touch his leg, with a little bit of effort of course.

“Come on, Rhys, she was only kidding,” Vaughn chuckled. 

Rhys laughed in response and nodded, opening his mouth to verbally agree, when his own phone went off in his pocket, interrupting him. He froze at the ringtone, eyes wide, smile immediately gone from his face. Heavy techno with a deep bass. A song that one could easily dance to. Usually he didn’t worry about answering calls, especially when he was with Vaughn and Yvette, but this was one he had to answer. He pulled the device from his pocket, flipping it open to answer it, not wanting it to go to voicemail. He put the phone to his ear gingerly and licked his lips before speaking into the receiver. “Hello?” He half hoped that the person on the other end wasn’t who he thought it was, but he had that specific ringtone, just for her.

“Hello, sugar,” a sweet voice answered him, soft and smooth, flowing through Rhys’ ear. Rhys ran his hand down his face, the cool metal against his flushed face shocking him enough to take in a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding.

“Give me a second,” he hissed into the receiver, before covering it up. “Guys, I have to take this…” he said, voice ridden with guilt. His face held all the apology that his friends needed and they nodded, yet the confusion was evident in their faces. But they understood. They always did. Every single time.

“We’ll keep your seat warm, Rhys,” Vaughn said, watching as the tallest of the three stood up, walking to the most secluded part of the court.

“I swear I’ll be right back!” Rhys called over his shoulder, watching as Vaughn raised his hand in recognition, the tiny arm barely visible over the growing crowd of people. Once Rhys was alone he uncovered the receiver, leaning against a wall so that the ear that held the phone was against the hard surface. “Boss, is something wrong?” he spoke softly into the phone, still worried that someone might be able to overhear him.

“Nothing’s the matter, Rhys. I just wanted to check up on you.”

“You never call me when I’m out, something’s going on,” Rhys replied, placing his back against the wall and looking out towards the food court. His eyes scanned the crowd, and he could hear his ECHO eye click and whir into action, the bright light from the eye making his head hurt. Images flickered as his eye quickly searched the crowd and information flooded his brain. Loads of useless stuff. But then he found his friends, their familiar names settling into his vision. They were still there. Good. His ECHO eye whirred gently as it focused on the two only.

“Oh honey, you know me too well. You know how I told you you’d have this week off?”

Rhys nodded, before realizing that – well – his boss couldn’t see him nod, so he hummed in affirmation.

“Plans have changed. I need you to come in and do a solo. I’m planning on having a…client come by later tonight. A very important one. But don’t tell him that, he’s got enough of an ego,” Rhys could hear the eye roll that his boss just did. “Not for sure yet, I still need to talk to him. I think you’d be right up his alley.”

“Boss, I’ve done solos all this week. I’m barely keeping up with my real job…” Rhys ran his fingers through his hand, wincing when small strands got caught in the tiny gaps between the mechanical fingers of his fake hand. He pressed the phone in between his head and shoulder, using his now free hand to tug the hair strands loose.

“Rhys, sugar…” Rhys could hear his boss’s voice drop in volume. He felt himself freeze, hands still tangled in his hair. “This is a special occasion. This is for a very, very important person. A VIP, Rhys. If you catch my drift. Plus you know, you could always just quit your job there and work for me full time. I pay more anyway.” 

“Boss, I'm not working full time,” Rhys replied with his own eye roll, ignoring the gentle, “Awww,” he received from his boss. He fell silent and nibbled his lower lip as he considered it, his eye focusing on his friends again. He watched through his ECHO eye as their silhouettes leaned back with laughter, Rhys feeling a deep pang in his chest. He wanted to be over there with them. They had been planning on a group sleepover, playing stupid board games, and watching movies until the sun rose. It was their thing to do when their schedules worked out. Just being together. It had been awhile since they had hung out, just the three of them, work catching them up at different times and intervals. Rhys let out a sigh, letting his eyes fall shut. When he opened them, his ECHO eye was turned off, and Vaughn and Yvette had been lost to the crowd.

“Will you tell me who it is?” Rhys asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope!” his boss giggled in reply. Rhys groaned, hands falling to his sides, taking chunks of hair with them and causing him to hiss in pain. “Rhys?”

“I’ll do it…” Rhys agreed quietly, sad look on his face as he looked to the general direction of his friends, before looking to the floor. He could hear his boss celebrating over the phone, a bit of a smile coming to his face as he heard her cheering.

“Great! Thank you so much, Rhys! See you tonight!” his boss hung up, leaving Rhys with the strange sound of quietness in his ear as he looked back to the area where his friends were, shoving the phone, and his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, tonight…” Rhys mumbled, beginning to make his way back to the table. Vaughn and Yvette might’ve known some of his dirtiest secrets…but they didn’t know all of them.

\--

She grinned at another victory, her now silent phone pressed to her lips as she peered down the hallway to the large foreboding oak doors, her back pressed against a wall. Rhys never let her down. She always knew that she could count on him in a pinch. She slipped the phone into her back pocket, turning to face the hallway as she took a large step forward, easily falling into an even rhythm. Her hips swayed when she walked, hands down at her sides and brushing against her legs occasionally. The setting sun’s orange hue caught on her hair and made it look like bright amber, going back to it’s natural brown shade when not in the light. Her heels were silent on the plush carpet that led to those intimidating oak doors, pausing at the desk that the receptionist occupied. She cleared her throat when she wasn’t immediately noticed, her smile widening even further when she saw the receptionist’s eyes open to the size of dinner plates when she got a good look at her. She was quite a sight.

“C-Can I help you?” the receptionist stammered.

“Yeah sugar, you can,” her voice was sweet, words slowly tumbling from thick, ruby red painted lips. She pointed a finely manicured finger at the intercom, black nail polish glittering in the light. “Page ol’ Jackie for me. Tell him Moxxi’s here for a visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cries because everyone who is reading this and leaving kind messages/comments are wonderful.  
> You all are amazing and I love all of you so much. ;u;  
> And yeah, still don't know where this is going and if the character's are...in character. Sorry.  
> Also will I ever not end a chapter on a character talking? The world may never know.  
> If you see any mistakes, please let me know. <3 I kind of wrote this all on 4 hours of sleep and an 8 hour work day haha.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the day went along without any other hitches or hiccups and it was about time to stop and go home and Jack couldn’t wait any longer. His cozy little apartment was waiting for him along with a couple of drinks and maybe a cigarette or two - or maybe a whole pack. Yeah that sounded right. He was just so done with the day he had just gone through he just wanted to relax in any way possible. Be that getting drunk off his ass or feeling the natural buzz on his lips from smoking a whole pack of cigarettes. They always left him with a comfortable haze that relaxed him when he felt the stress of the world. He couldn’t decide between the two. So the logical thing to do was to do both the second he stepped inside the threshold of his door. The CEO was thinking he could get away with leaving early as he rested his feet on the desk and twirled a pen in between his fingers, watching the clock out of the corner of his eye, seconds ticking by slower and slower, when his intercom buzzed, stirring him from his thoughts as he leaned forward, pressing the button to answer it with an irritable frown.

“S-sir, you have a visitor,” the female receptionist stuttered over the intercom.

“I don’t want visitors,” Jack replied, an edge to his voice.

“She seems really eager to see you, sir,” the receptionist urged. Jack tapped his finger to his chin for a moment. She? Who could his receptionist be talking about? For one, he wasn’t expecting any visitors this late in the day. He didn’t have visitors anyway, he had appointments. And even then they didn’t happen around – he glanced at the clock – six-thirty in the evening. And they called ahead of time and gave warning, not suddenly show up. He then heard a bit of a commotion over the intercom, the voices too full of static to understand, until he heard a familiar voice flow through the speakers, soft and like velvet even through the crackling static.

“Jack, sugar, you better let me in. If you know what’s good for you.”

Jack groaned. He did not need this now. He could feel the back of his head begin to throb from all of the stupidity he had to endure today and the last thing he needed was this. The last thing he needed was her walking in here. Nonetheless he pushed the button to respond to the receptionist and replied with a rather irritated voice, “Let her in.”

He watched with a displeased look as the oak doors to his office creaked open and a curvaceous figure stepped through, wearing tight fitting black jeans that hung low and a low v-neck graphic t-shirt that had the words “RED LIGHT” on it. The shirt didn’t reach all the way to her pants line, her pale, flat stomach showing whenever she walked. The sight of her would’ve made anyone turn their head and yet Jack just continued to stare straight ahead, unperturbed, as she came his way. Walking with a sway, she approached the CEO’s desk like she herself owned the building they were currently in, stopping just a few feet short as she crossed her arms, a soft smile on her ruby red lips. Jack looked her up and down once before settling on her ice green eyes that were covered in mascara and eyeshadow. “Moxxi…how nice to see you.”

Moxxi smiled, her head cocking to one side with a coy smile. “Jack, honey, you look like you’ve had a rough day.”

“You could say that,” Jack narrowed his mismatching eyes, not willing to give her any leeway. “So what are you doing here? In my building? My office? Coming to bother me? Again? Because I can tell you, I’m not really in the mood.” Jack said, cutting right to the chase, standing up and beginning to gather his things before Moxxi shushed him quietly, motioning for him to stop. And he did – surprisingly – yet he did not sit back down, instead standing just a few inches taller than the woman before him.

“Oh sweetie, you know I just love to bother you,” she smiled, leaning all of her weight on one foot, letting her hip lean to the side. “But I was just here checking up on…” she paused, seeming to think carefully about her choice of words. “…a friend of mine and thought I’d stop by and say hello. You know, Jack, you should really stop by the club and unwind if you’re stressed out. We’ve got some new drinks on hand and there’s a new bartender that really needs the practice,” she saw the worried look pass by Jack’s face and she grinned in response. New bartenders always gave him the willies. “Plus there’s a new dancer that I’m sure you’d enjoy.” She added quickly.

“Moxxi, your ‘club’,” Jack put air quotes around the word. “Is more like a strip joint. Plus, your dancers are more like strippers.” He pointed at the woman accusingly.

“Doll, it only becomes a strip joint after ten. And only some of them are strippers. And that’s only because they want to be. I don’t pressure them if they don’t want to,” Moxxi frowned, crossing her arms and turning away from the frustrated man. She looked down in interest as Jack’s intercom buzzed again, Jack glaring down at it. “Has it been doing that all day?” she asked. Jack nodded, quickly answering it just to shut the damn thing up. “You’re popular tonight.” She quipped, receiving a sharp, mismatched look that meant ‘be quiet’ from the CEO as he spoke into it.

“What?” Jack snapped.

“Sir, you have a dinner meeting tonight with the other heads of the departments,” the receptionist’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“What…?” he repeated, whole body tense, voice dropping to a dangerous volume. He didn’t really want the receptionist to repeat what she had said, but he just honestly couldn’t believe he had another thing to do after the rather annoying day he just had to endure.

“You have a dinner meeting – ,”

“Shut up, I heard you the first time,” Jack growled before sighing, finally slumping down into his chair, air escaping his lips in a long sigh, letting both his hands run down his scarred face.

Moxxi almost felt sorry for him. Usually, the man in front of her that she considered a friend – well, most of the time, only when he wasn’t being a complete asshole – was always so composed and strong, striking fear and adoration in his employees. Right now he just looked so tired and worn out. Guess being the CEO of a successful company wore you down after a while.

“When and where?” Jack asked, finger lightly tapping the button on the intercom.

“In about twenty minutes, the restaurant a few blocks down.”

“Let them know I’ll be late,” Jack answered before hanging up the intercom with a sigh, looking back at Moxxi who was glancing about the room with fake interest, acting like she hadn’t been listening in on the conversation. She looked back down when she felt eyes burning on her, smile tugging on her lips.

“Offer’s still open Jack,” she winked playfully. “Come after your business ordeals, invite your friends if you want, the more the merrier. Still need to break the new dancer in. They're a little shy.” Jack eyed Moxxi, eyebrows furrowed. Moxxi was keeping something secret, playing up the mystery to make the reveal more wondrous and surprising. He'd been to Moxxi's shows before, but not in a long while. He was beginning to miss the scene of dancers moving in time to fast, thumping music, skin being shown little by little, fingers dancing over themselves just to catch the crowd's attention, until the song ended and the curtain was drawn - hiding the dancers from prying eyes. It was always a tease, but he’d never been disappointed with one of Moxxi’s shows before, and her dancers were some of the best…entertainment he’s seen in a long time.

“Christ…” Jack ran his hand through his hair and sighed, thinking it over. He knew he would have a terrible time at the dinner with the terrible mood he was already in, and he’d obviously need something to relax with, and Moxxi’s club sounded like the obvious choice. “Why the hell not? After the day I’ve had, I could go for one of your cocktails, Moxxi. But I’m not bringing my ‘friends’.” Jack rolled his eyes, looking disgusted that she had just said that. “Can’t even believe you’d call them that.”

“Great!” Moxxi giggled, blowing him a kiss that Jack avoided. “Jerk,” she pouted. Jack shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll see you at the club. Wear something nice, it’s going to be amazing.” She turned around and waved her farewell as she left, placing her finger to her lips as she contemplated how tonight was going to go. She pulled her phone back out of her pocket as she exited the large oak doors, dialing a number on speed dial and placing it to her ear, only speaking when she heard the familiar voice greet her. “Fiona? It’s Moxxi. He’s coming. Get our little star glittering.” She hung up after that, the satisfying snap of the phone making her sigh happily as she headed down the hallway and towards the exit, perfect smile plastered to her lips.

Oh, tonight was going to be amazing, alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shimmy shimmy shake ya'll.  
> I have way too much fun writing Moxxi somebody stop me.  
> I still don't know what I'm doing.  
> Also, I chose the Red Light because why the hell not.  
> -ollies out until next time-


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi uhm  
> I'm not dead?  
> Also warning ahead of time, I know nothing about fashion nor anything about pole dancing. I did some research, but not much because that would involve videos and I only have 30 GB of internet a month. /sobs/  
> and I'm just a total loss when it comes to fashion sorry

Jack grumbled to himself as he walked down the sidewalk, hands shoved in his pockets and black coat pressed up against the chill night air. The dinner had been a complete waste of his time. Everybody was just kissing his ass the entire night, making his already bad mood worse. Most of the time he enjoyed the ass kissing. But lately, being called ‘sir’ and ‘Mr. Handsome Jack’ and ‘oh sir, let me hold the door open for you and buy you an extra glass of wine’ was starting to grate on his nerves. He had gotten no special treatment working his way up the ladder to get to where he was today, the top of Hyperion, the CEO. So why should anybody else?

He gritted his teeth as he rounded another corner, breathing out an angry breath as he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. The day was over. Tomorrow was the beginning of a new day or some shit. As he walked down the sidewalk at a brisk pace, he was glad that Moxxi had invited him to her little club. It was as much as a stress reliever as anything he could get at home. Plus Moxxi always made the best cocktails and drinks that had the right amount of alcohol in them to get a good buzz going after the first drink.

Jack paused his thoughts and pace briefly as he noticed that he was beginning to get into the raunchy section of town, the streetlights a shade darker and the atmosphere dangerous, in more ways than one. The stores and shops were quickly turning into nightclubs and bars before his mismatched eyes. 

Not perturbed by the change in scenery, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, tapping the box a few times before tugging one out and placing it between his lips. He lit it with a few clicks of his lighter, watching as the end of the cigarette lit up as he breathed in, lungs filling with harsh smoke before he took the stick away from his mouth, breathing the gray mist out in a thick cloud.  
He began walking again, slower this time, occasionally bringing the cigarette to his lips to breath in its toxic goodness. He passed by several scantily dressed women – and one man? – asking him if he was looking for a good time. Jack ignored them, walking the same, slow, deliberate pace. 

He was, but not from them. 

Thankfully Moxxi’s club wasn’t too far into the raunchy part of town as he paused under the bright red neon lights of the club that read “MOXXI’S RED LIGHT”. He leaned against the side of the building, hoping to finish his cigarette quickly and just get inside. Being on this side of town always left a sick feeling in his stomach. 

A clattering noise to his right made him quickly flip around and peer down a dark alley, but all he saw was a shadowed figure escaping through a staff entrance into the club. Jack narrowed his eyes, being here always set him on edge. He took one last deep drag of the cigarette before letting it slip between his fingers, stomping it out with his boots. He held the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before letting it drift out of his nose, the gray mist curling around him possessively before dissipating into the cool night air.

Finally, he turned toward the door, protected by a bouncer. Jack could already hear the pounding of music as he got closer, hands tucked back into his pockets as he stood in front of the bouncer, passive look on his face, he had passed by the line that had already started to form even this early into the night, the bouncer giving him a sharp look as he approached. “Name’s Jack, Moxxi personally invited me. I’m a uh…” he cleared his throat and let out a sigh. “I’m a friend.”

“Jack? Jack…hmm,” the bouncer looked at the clipboard he had in his hand, flipping the paper a couple of times. Jack tapped his foot impatiently, crossing his arms. “Oh, here you are,” the bouncer nodded, taking down the velvet rope that passed as a barrier. Jack nodded to the bouncer who went back to his job of guarding the door.

Walking past the doors of the club was always a surprise for Jack, even if he heard the pounding of music outside of the building, it was nothing compared to what was inside. The thrumming of music made it feel like Jack’s whole body was vibrating with the amount of bass that the song that was currently filling the entire club with energy had. He gripped a nearby railing and made his way down the small staircase into the main room of the club, looking around for the club’s owner – his annoying friend who practically talked him into coming here.

He managed to get a good look at the lively club first.

Not much had changed. The stage was still the same oddly heart shaped stage that had staircases on either side with a pole in the middle that reached all the way to the ceiling, bolted there for safety. Never once had a dancer been injured – at least when Jack had been here. He’d never heard any stories or rumors about anybody getting hurt either. All the times Jack had seen them twirl and suspend themselves, bodies bending in ways Jack had only seen in videos and pictures. The pole was their best friend and their greatest tool.

Glancing around a bit more, he noticed that the bar had been redone – now finely furnished with cherry wood with a slick sheen instead of just a dinky random wood counter. Moxxi had put a lot of love into this place since the last time he had been here. Had it really been that long?

As he was continuing to take the changes to the club in, something caught his eye. There were small, one-person, somewhat wide chairs closer to the stage, roped off with thick, velvet rope, like they had at the entrance to the club. 

None of the occupants of the club were sitting in them, not even milling about too close to them – the bouncers stationed at each end of the rope helping to keep curious onlookers at bay. 

The CEO’s curiosity got the better of him though as he made his way to the chairs. He could just tell the bouncers he knew the owner. He had a recognizable face. They probably knew who he was and would let him investigate. He wasn’t able to satiate his curiosity over the comfortable looking chairs as said club owner decided to show up, stepping directly in front of him, stopping him from advancing any further with a single finger.

“Tsk tsk, Jackie,” Moxxi tutted over the music. “Thought you had more control than that. They’re roped off for a reason, sugar.”

“Don’t call me Jackie,” Jack growled.

“Please,” Moxxi rolled her eyes. “Relax. You’re here now, at Red Light. Where everybody gets to unwind and forget about their day…and possibly the next.” She smiled before sniffing the air around her and Jack, making a disgusted face as she covered her nose with a perfectly manicured hand. “Have you been smoking?”

“So?” Jack crossed his arms.

“Gross,” Moxxi frowned, waving the air in front of her face to dissipate the scent. “As long as you don’t do it in my club. Go grab something from the bar. I’ve already made a cocktail for you. Just ask for it. I’ve got something to take care of before the show. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Oh, and all drinks are on me tonight, Jackie.” She winked, disappearing into the ever growing crowd of people as the night grew.

Jack watched with a hard frown at being called ‘Jackie’ again as she disappeared and let out a breath. Yeah, he could try and relax here. This wasn’t work, nobody he knew was here. He could unwind. Right? He made his way through the crowd effortlessly. Whether it was from practice from crowd weaving or the permanent scowl on his face making people move out of his way, he quickly made his way to the bar, sitting down on a stool.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked, noticing him, leaning on the bar.

“Moxxi already made something for me,” Jack answered.

“Moxxi? Oh. Oh!” she exclaimed, turning around and grabbing the drink that was practically glowing in the blacklight of the bar with the amount of alcohol laced in its contents. Jack immediately wrapped his hands around the cold beverage and took a large swallow. It burned his lips, his mouth and his throat. It felt good. “So that means you’re Handsome Jack?”

Jack took the drink away, setting it down on the counter, looking at the bartender, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb. “What of it?”

“Nothing. Name’s Sasha. My sister and I both work here. We’ve just heard a lot about you from the boss.” The bartender – Sasha – grinned, easily catching an empty glass that was slid her way without having to look. Jack’s eyebrows rose when he saw that, not willing to admit that the action impressed him.

“She makes you call her boss?” Jack asked, taking another swig of the drink, whatever Moxxi put in it, he couldn’t taste the alcohol.

It was dangerous and he savored every sip.

“We do it ourselves,” Sasha answered, rinsing the glass. “Respect and all. The people who start working here usually don’t call her that to begin with, but they all end up calling her boss in the end.” She shrugged. Jack nodded wordlessly, looking away. He didn’t really want to talk to the bartender, but it was a nice beginning to get his mind off of the day.

“What’s the show tonight…?” he asked after a few moments of silence, if you count thumping music and countless people trying to talk over said music silence. He turned back to Sasha and didn’t exactly like the mischievous grin that decorated her face with her hand on her hip, other hand holding a refill of his drink already as she slid it over.

It stopped just in front of him, causing his eyes to narrow and look over the bartender suspiciously.

“You’re just going to have to find out, Mr. Big bad CEO.”

\--

Rhys’ hands clapped his face several times as he paced backstage, he could feel the annoyed green eyes watching him, but honestly, he didn’t care. He was shirtless, his tattoo on his neck and the tattoos on his collarbone visible to the world – if the world only included one person currently. 

He was in loose sweatpants that hung low on his thin hips, teasing at the hint of hair below his abdomen before it was hidden away from prying eyes. His bare feet clapped against the hard wood of the backstage floor as he continued to pace. His hair was in his face, having just gotten out of the shower that the club had for the dancers exclusively, getting rid of the gel he always put in his hair for the dance he was about to perform. 

He had just seen who walked in. He knew who his boss was talking about now over the phone hours before. And now his heart wouldn’t stop thumping in his chest and he could swear it was beating faster than the bass of the music in the club.

“Rhys, just sit down and relax,” Fiona tried, attempting to grab his hand and completely missing as he walked right past her, frown on her face.

“No, I will not just sit down and relax,” Rhys hissed out, running his hand through his already messy hair, the brown locks just falling back down in his face. “I can’t believe it was Jack that she was talking about. How could I have been so stupid? Oh my god I’m so dead. That’s my CEO over there chatting with your sister!” He pointed in a distinct direction of where the bar was, body shaking.

“Except right now, I’m your boss,” Rhys froze when he heard Moxxi’s voice right behind him, spinning around to face her. “Rhys, you aren’t at your company-desk job now, you’re here.” She said, walking over to him slowly and placing two hands gently on his cheeks. She could feel him shaking, and she patted his left cheek softly, running a thumb over the soft skin. “Right now, he’s just a customer, just like all the others. You need to get that through your mind.”

“But you said…you said he’s a VIP…” Rhys stammered quietly, his mismatched eyes staring into Moxxi’s ice green. He could hear his ECHO eye whirring and clicking, trying to focus on Moxxi, to get a read on her. But she wasn’t giving him anything to go on. “And…and what if he recognizes me? I introduced myself to him today.”

“He is a VIP. But VIPs are still only customers. Just customers with fat wallets. And as for recognizing you…he’s got facial recognition skills of a goldfish,” Moxxi grinned when Rhys let out a small bark of a laugh, tiny smile on his face. Moxxi always knew what to say. He could feel the nauseous butterflies in his stomach begin to fade.

“There’s my little star. Is Fiona done glamming you up?” Her hands fell from his face, now looking at the other woman in the room.

“Not yet,” Fiona quipped, standing back up with a small makeup brush in her hand. “I still need to cover up his neck tattoo. And his port.” She added, receiving a nod from Moxxi who looked back at Rhys.

“That shouldn’t take too long. Make it quick, show’s starting soon. I’ve got to get everyone seated and get the song queued. And Rhys,” Moxxi turned to the shirtless dancer who looked up, blinking, worried creases still on his face. “You’ve got this, sweetheart. I know you’ll own the stage like you always do.”

Rhys smiled at his boss, letting out a soft sigh. “Thanks, boss.”

“No problem, darlin’,” Moxxi purred. “Let me go take care of my business. I’ll come back when everyone’s seated. Your outfit is in your room, sweetie.” She threw Rhys a wink over her shoulder as she turned on her heel and made her way from backstage, heels clicking against the hardwood until they couldn’t be heard over the music any longer.

Rhys sighed, looking towards Fiona who simply shrugged as she began to work on him, covering up his neck tattoo with make up until it vanished completely. She was gentler with his port, the spot sensitive as she had discovered before, using light touches that made him shiver against his will. “Thanks, Fiona.” He murmured when he experimentally touched the spots and they came away dry, knowing they were invisible from far away.

“What can I say?” Fiona shrugged with a grin. “I’m pretty amazing. Now you should get inside your room and finish getting ready. Boss will want you ready and on stage soon.”

Rhys looked to her with a pout. “Are you sure I can do this?” he asked, metal arm clasping his organic. He felt goosebumps rise from the cold touch, before the metal began to warm and the bumps faded.

“Rhys, I’ve seen you own that stage for less,” Fiona replied, hands on her hips. “You’re just nervous because your CEO is out there, and let me tell you, boss is right…kind of. He’s just a regular customer right now. Forget all that VIP crap. He’s here to have a good time, you’re here to have a good time, everybody out there is here to have a good time. I know you normally get nervous before you get out there, but when you get into it, boy, do you get into it.” Fiona grinned when she saw Rhys blush.

“I guess…I can’t help it?” Rhys tried, trying to bite back a smile from the kind words.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Fiona quipped, taking Rhys by the arm and tugging him to the dressing room. “Take a few moments to clear your head while you get dressed. I’ll stall the boss if you need it.” She offered him a warm smile.

Rhys returned it with one of his own, opening the door as he stepped inside. Fiona always knew that he was nervous before a big solo dance. And he really didn’t understand why Moxxi kept making him do solos. He didn’t see the appeal of himself. He was tall, skinny, had awkwardly long limbs that – to him – didn’t move the way he wanted them to. But when he danced, other people seemed to like it. He guessed that’s what counted.

He stripped off the pair of sweatpants that were the only thing covering his body, standing there and looking at himself in the full-length body mirror. He could hear his ECHO eye whir quietly - the light emanating from it making his head hurt some - taking his own vitals – which were elevated due to nerves – through the help of the mirror. He shut his eyes, turning the ECHO device off. He didn’t need to know how nervous he was right now, it’d only make him feel worse. 

He glanced on the counter and saw that there was a pair of contacts resting in some solution. They were a beautiful shade of amber, almost gold. Doing this was almost routine now. Putting on a disguise so people wouldn’t know who he really was. He didn’t want them to know who he really was. Sometimes he thought that the company man Rhys couldn’t possibly compare to what people saw up on stage when he danced. The dancer Rhys. Sometimes Rhys didn’t even know who he was half the time.

He picked the lenses up and opened his eyes wide, slipping them on and blinking several times to let them fall into place. It was always confusing to see himself in the mirror with two eyes of the same shade after having two differing shades of eyes for so long. It disoriented him, threw him for a loop so much that when he forgot he was wearing contacts after a dance, he always had to do a double take, to remind himself that yes – that was him in the mirror.

The next thing he did was get dressed. If you could call it that. 

Moxxi had picked out a rather…small amount of attire for this dance, the look of it making Rhys snort. It was a pair of tight briefs, striking black in color with the letters ‘RL’ on the back in what Rhys thought were fake rubies, but when he ran his fingers over them, he suddenly thought that maybe…maybe they might be real. Whenever he’d walk his ass would be the center of attention.

Right now his butt was worth more than his entire body as he slipped on the pair of briefs, the material soft and riding low on his hips. He turned around and watched the curve of his ass spark like fire because of the jewels – fake or not.

“Moxxi does like it to be flashy,” Rhys murmured, letting out a sigh. Along with the soft briefs were a pair of stilettos that made Rhys into even more of a giant than he already was. The color of the stilettos matched the briefs, black leather with ruby encrusted straps, the heels were a sharp dark red that weren’t too attention grabbing, but allowed the “outfit” to come together. 

Rhys leaned over to strap the stilettos onto his feet, wobbling some as he gained his footing as he stood a few inches taller thanks to the shoes mumbling a soft, “Where the hell does Boss find these?” as he touched the gems that were attached to the straps of the shoe.

The last thing Rhys had to do was cover up his mechanical arm. He noticed as soon as he stepped into the dressing room, there was a long, glove looking thing that was the same tone as his own skin. He knew that sleeve very well. It was the sleeve they always used to hide his mechanical arm for what it was. Not many people enjoyed having a half cybernetic dancer as he discovered one time – having taken a chance. He took the sleeve and slipped his mechanical arm into it, each finger going into their proper place of the glove and clasping it into place. It was seamless, and when he turned back to look at himself in the mirror, he looked like he just had two normal, organic, non-mechanical arms.

He took one final look at himself in the mirror…and wondered if that was really him. Two matching brown eyes, no port on the side of his head, no neck tattoo, no mechanical arm, his hair wasn’t slicked back… 

The only thing that really made him think he was really himself were the familiar blue tattoos spreading across his collarbone. He traced them with his hand lightly, hissing when he felt the cold touch of his mechanical hand hiding under the sleeve – disguised as flesh.

He heard knocking on the door, turning around on the balls of his feet, hand reaching to open it and revealing Moxxi, who smiled at him.

“You ready, sweetheart?” she asked, gentleness in her tone as she held out a hand.

Rhys nodded, reaching out his own and taking hers.

It was show time.

\--

The bartender – Sasha, Jack had to remind himself – had become quiet after she had last spoken to Jack. Whether it was because business had picked up in the last hour or she had nothing more to say to the Hyperion CEO, he didn’t care. It gave him a moment to pause and focus on drinking the cocktail in front of him. 

He couldn’t remember if this was his second or fourth, or ninth. Time was irrelevant and overrated at Red Light, so was counting.

He was already beginning to feel a buzz – maybe more than a buzz, some would say he was piss drunk with how much alcohol was poured in the drinks –, the possible hundreds of voices in the club just a white noise in his ear as he let out a sigh. 

He finished the most recent cocktail quicker than he should have, setting the glass back down and asking Sasha for another drink, not caring only if it was strong. Sasha smiled and nodded, quickly making something with quick hands that Jack couldn’t keep up with, the movements only a blur to his slow, mismatched eyes.

As soon as the drink was set in front of him, Jack felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around in his chair, having to focus to not get dizzy. “What?” he growled.

There were bouncers. Two of them. Jack wondered if they were here to kick them out. What the hell had he done? Drink too much? Oh he’d have a word with Moxxi if that was the case until he heard them say, “Handsome Jack correct? Moxxi asked us to escort you to your VIP section.” Jack stared at them for a moment longer than a sober person would’ve before nodding, climbing off of the stool and holding onto the bar so as not to stumble.

“One of you…grab my drink,” he ordered, trying not to slur his words and utterly failing, watching with unsteady eyes as they seemed to follow his every slurred syllable. It was like he was back at work and it made him sick to his stomach as he grimaced. He came here to avoid lackies kissing his ass.

He followed their lead as they lead him to the chairs that had been roped off before. They were still roped off, but they were now occupied with bodies and faces that Jack didn’t recognize. Jack was guided to the leather seat that was right in front of the middle of the stage, giving it the best view. He settled in the seat and waved the bouncers off, feeling their intimidating presence leave. Good riddance.

Through his fuzzy mind, he had a craving. A craving he always had when he had too much to drink.

The craving had him digging through his pockets looking for the small box of toxic sticks. He couldn’t remember what Moxxi had said about smoking inside of the club at this point and time, and honestly, he couldn’t bring himself to care as he fished around his pockets, taking out a cigarette and attempting to light it with shaking fingers. 

He wasn’t noticed, or rather, nobody had the guts to stop him. He was Handsome Jack after all, the man who ran Hyperion.

He took a deep drag when he finally got the cigarette lit and kept his mismatched eyes on the stage, letting the gray mist curl out from his mouth slowly, not noticing nearby occupants around him cough from the smell.

Backstage, hidden behind a curtain, Moxxi hissed when she saw Jack lighting the cig, turning towards Rhys, furious. “I told him to not smoke in here!” she stomped around, fingers on the bridge of her nose as Rhys held his hands up, attempting to calm her down. “It’s disgusting, rude to the other customers, and most of all, it could do harm to them and to my dancers!” she let out a frustrated huff, shaking her head, before she stopped suddenly, idea forming in her devious little head. She turned around and looked at Rhys, who stood still, looking from Moxxi to the stage he was about to perform on, still hidden behind a thick, red curtain. “Rhys, sugar?” she cooed.

“Oh no…” Rhys groaned, this wasn’t going to be good.

“Wanna do me a little favor?” she stepped closer, gently guiding Rhys to where they were still hidden by the curtain, but they could see the audience clearly, mainly have a view of Jack who looked rather bored, tapping away at his phone while his cigarette burned, ashes falling to the floor. “Mean Jackie is smoking in my club and we just can’t have that,” Rhys nodded, swallowing thickly. “You know how at the slow part, you go into the audience for a short amount of time?” Rhys nodded again. “Go up to Jack, put that cigarette out. I don’t care how. Just make it flashy.” Moxxi purred, turning to face Rhys.

“I guess…I’ll try,” Rhys said, grasping his arm in nervousness.

“Don’t try, do. I believe in you, hon.” She said, gripping his shoulders and placing kisses on both of his cheeks. It was in such a motherly sort of way Rhys couldn’t help but smile back at her when she pulled away, his hand slicking back his hair out of habit, only to have it fall back in his face. “Knock ‘em dead, sugar.” She added, watching as Rhys quietly jogged out, taking his stance for the beginning.

Moxxi could see how nervous Rhys was, even from her spot backstage. He was too tense, feet too wide apart, hands clenched at his sides – and Moxxi could swear his body was shaking just a tad. She knew he had usual pre-show jitters, but this was a tad worse than usual. She turned and glanced at where Jack was sitting, sigh escaping her lips. If Jack was causing this to happen to Rhys, maybe she shouldn’t let the CEO come back when Rhys was going to perform. She wanted the dancers to feel comfortable, after all.

The audience fell silent, the lights dimming to near blackness – the music following suit as it quieted to silence. The only light in the entire audience was Jack’s cigarette which still glowed dimly, brightening when he brought it back to his lips for a drag.

Rhys swallowed thickly. It was time. He was so nervous it wasn’t even funny. He was thinking back on what Moxxi and Fiona had said. How he could do this, trying to focus those words to unlock his joints…it wasn’t exactly helping. The music beginning to start made him jolt in surprise, thankfully it began slow and he remained hidden for the beginning part, letting out a sigh that was hidden from the audience. He heard the curtain being drawn away from his body, the cool air from the fabric being pulled creating goosebumps along his body. His back was to the audience, and if he wanted to do this – he had to relax. 

Using the short amount of time of the beginning of the song while he was still swallowed in darkness, he took in a deep breath and began to tap his heel against the floor – silenced by the volume of the music –, quickly becoming familiar with the beat of the song. 

Up here, on this stage shaped like a heart, numerous eyes on him, he wasn’t Rhys the company man.

He wasn’t sure if he could even call himself Rhys. 

He was an entirely different person. 

The thought alone sent a wave of confidence through him, his whole body relaxing as he rolled his shoulders just before he felt a wave of heat as the lights suddenly shone on him, revealing his form to the crowd.

Yeah, he could do this. 

Handsome Jack and his nerves be damned.

Once the lyrics began, Rhys turned around on the balls of his feet and walked – no, strutted – to the pole that rested in the middle of the heart shaped stage. Only he could hear the clicking of the stilettos against the wood, the music too loud in the audience’s ears for them to hear – but the look of him in the high heels did their job. He glanced into the throng of people and saw eyes staring at his long legs that seemed to go on forever – the heels just simply accentuating that part of his body. He put on an award winning smile at the thought, approaching the pole.

He grasped the metal tightly with his left hand, the pole cool to the touch. He walked around it, using steps that were long and calculated, feeling eyes on his every move. He eyed the pole with his amber eyed gaze, assessing it. 

To Rhys, it was an old friend that had treated him well, and he would treat it as such, just as it would treat him this time around as well. 

They would dance beautifully together. 

Rhys easily climbed up the pole, the simple metal supporting his meager bit of weight. He knew it would support him as he held himself by his arms only – suspended – legs dangling before he stuck them straight out, body nearly a perfect ninety degree angle, letting his legs fall as he allowed his body to swim to the beat of the movement, showing off his skills.

Normally, Rhys was weak. He could barely hold up boxes filled with papers and other office tools when asked at his normal company job at Hyperion. And yet, here, filled with adrenaline and excitement of all eyes on him, as well as with the help from his mechanical arm, he could feel like he could do anything.

Including lifting himself onto a metal pole in nothing but ass-glittering underwear and high heels. 

His distracted thoughts ended when he wrapped his legs around the pole, the metal now warm and pleasant to the touch. He allowed himself to turn, and his suddenly his back was to the audience. He could sense the confusion in the crowd at his hidden face.

He grinned, devious and cunning as he allowed himself to fall, letting his legs catch him as he fell a few inches down the metal, collective gasp through the club-goers as he was suspended once more – except this time bended over backwards as he ran his fingers over his torso, shivering at the cold touch of his metal hand through the sleeve, goosebumps rising over pale skin while enraptured eyes watched every teasing touch.

He stepped away from the pole once during the song, landing so hard on his knees that the ‘thunk’ could be heard over the music, legs spread wide apart.

He was right in front of Handsome Jack. Handsome Jack who all this time was still on his phone – cigarette wasting away, dripping ash. The noise of Rhys falling to his knees startled him from the electronic, and he looked up, catching the shirtless dancer staring at him. Amber eyes caught mismatched green and blue, the two meeting each other shortly before Rhys remembered he had a job to do.

The dancer brought his thumb to his lips, tongue flicking out to catch the tip. He caught the way Jack’s eyes shot to the digit, following it’s decent down the dancer’s body - hips rolling against air to the beat of the music - before it stopped at his waistline, hesitating ever so slightly before Rhys dipped the digit underneath the waistband, watching as Jack’s eyes widened at the show. 

Rhys grinned, all teeth, catching the light in a flash as he pulled the briefs away from his skin ever so slightly, giving Jack just the slightly glances of brown coarse hairs before he let the elastic snap with a harsh sound – jumping up and making his way back to the pole with swaying hips, the jewels on his ass glittering as he did so.

He had Jack’s attention now. The CEO’s knuckles had begun to turn white as he was watching Rhys. The dancer could only seem to focus on the mismatched gaze that seemed to be boring into him for the short amount of time he was back on stage until he made his way into the audience. The pole was still kind to him as Rhys danced and bent in ways that caused the audience to whoop and holler just the way Rhys liked. 

Soon the music began to slow and Rhys let go of the metal with one last fond stroke – metal on metal – his chest heaving and glistening with sweat. He made his way to one of the staircases, eyes searching. He knew who he was looking for, he just had to play it out. His hips swayed as he walked, ignoring others who shouted at him, bills waving his direction, wanting to be the one he chose. Instead he stopped in front of the one who had been so deftly staring at him even since he had kneeled before him. 

Jack had watched his approach with wide eyes, lip tugged between perfect teeth. He didn’t know what to expect out of the show, but now the show was standing in front of him, hand on his hip. Amber eyes bore into his own, reading him. The cockiness and the confidence of the dancer stirred something within Jack as he watched the dancer lean forward, suddenly grasping the arm rests, face-to-face with the CEO.

Jack suddenly knew why the leather chairs were so wide.

Jack took a quick breath, looking deep into the nearly gold eyes of the dancer. Everything about the kid was intoxicating. The intense eye contact, the way he loomed over him like he was nothing. It was so new and fresh Jack felt dizzy. He barely registered the hand creeping along his arm and up his shoulder, tracing his cheek, finger just barely gracing an edge of his scar before deftly stealing away his cigarette right from his lips. 

“Hey!” he shouted over the pounding music, the dancer pulling away quickly, standing up straight, taller than Jack could have ever imagined in the stilettos.

Rhys put the short stick to his lips, ignoring Jack’s outburst. The taste of Jack was still fresh on the cigarette as he breathed in the toxic mist in a long drag that nearly spent the rest of cigarette before blowing it out in a perfect smoke ring, the rest escaping through his nose in a deep exhale. He leaned back over, gray mist still encircling his mostly naked form, tapping the ashes into Jack’s drink, before dropping the whole cigarette in the expensive liquor altogether.

“No smoking in the club,” Rhys’ voice was a mere husk against Jack’s ear as he pulled away, making his way back on stage quickly. He had spent way too much time down there.

Hey, Moxxi had said to make it flashy.

Rhys finished up the song with as large of a finish as he could think of, his ankles hooked around the pole as he allowed himself to fall, ankles catching him and stilettos locking around themselves, shining in the light as he locked himself into place. His hips jutted out as he dragged his hands up his body for the last time, letting his eyes open and lock onto the crowd with pouted lips, but he was really focusing one man – one man sitting in the audience that returned his gaze with an interested and intense look on his face.

With that the song ended and the curtain was drawn, hiding Rhys from any more curious eyes as he let himself down, Fiona quickly rushing out to get him a bottle of water which he gratefully took and swigged, coughing loudly, the smoke from the cigarette finally affecting him after holding it in for so long.

“Holy shit…I knew you could do it Rhys! That was amazing! It had to have been your best show ever!” she exclaimed, helping guide him off the stage and take off the stilettos.

“Thanks,” Rhys rasped, taking in more water to chase away the scratch in his throat.

Moxxi greeted Rhys offstage with a large hug. “Rhys you did it! Oh you make me so proud!” she held the dancer tighter.

“Boss, you’re hurting me,” Rhys chuckled, smiling when Moxxi let him go.

“I’m serious Rhys, you did a great job out there. Go get a shower and get yourself home. You deserve a good rest. I gotta go talk to Jackie. Get his input.” Moxxi purred. Rhys nodded, fatigue already clouding his vision as he turned the corner and let his body lead him to the shower.

The space around the stage had already dissipated to a small amount of people when Moxxi found Jack still sitting in the leather chair, staring at the drawn curtain with a look of pure concentration. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat, Jack finally noticing her presence looking up at her. “Did you enjoy the show, Jackie?” she teased, sweetest smile she could muster plastered on her face.

“Moxxi…” Jack started, sounding a hell of a lot more sober and looking back at the stage, not even correcting her on the irritating nickname. “Who was that kid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO LEMME TELL YOU WHERE I'VE BEEN  
> First I was on vacation with my sister in New York, that was fun and stuff.  
> Then a family emergency happened and in short my sister, mother and I had to make an emergency trip to Tennessee to visit my dying grandfather. Sorry everyone. ;n;  
> But I'm back for now. I've missed you all. And here's the long chapter I promised like...weeks ago.  
> And it totally went a different direction than I intended it to go but oh well. I like it, I'm tired of looking at it, I hope you like it, and I hope it suffices. Not beta'd as always. Please point out any mistakes so I can fix them for you guys <3  
> Until next time, lovelies.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack’s frown had been a permanent part of his wardrobe throughout the entire workday. Along with the splitting headache that came from the hangover he was still sporting since this morning, he couldn’t seem to concentrate at all on anything work related. Which made him even more annoyed, angry, and short-tempered. A dangerous combination.

He was reading – or rather attempting to read – one of the reports from that one sales rep yesterday had given him – but whenever he tried to read a line, his mind wandered back to the previous night at Red Light.

Like a slide show, his mind kept replaying the scene when the dancer fell before him, knees hitting the heart shaped stage so hard the sound was heard over the music that echoed throughout the club. It had definitely caught the CEO’s attention.

That had been the first time Jack had even looked at the dancer throughout the whole routine – and it left an impression. The thin, lithe body glistening with sweat, head tilted just slightly, brown hair falling into the dancer’s face, amber eyes glittering in the show lights – focused solely on Jack – and the flashy, daring and revealing outfit had made Jack’s breath escape in a slow exhale.

Christ what he wouldn’t have given to know the kid’s name. Yet Moxxi had said that it was an invasion of the dancer’s privacy to let Jack know the dancer’s name. She was very protective of her dancers, like they were her own children. It made it a little hard to get to know any of them.

Jack’s eyes narrowed as he fumbled over that thought, pausing on a word in the report. 

Why would he want to get to know any of the dancers? Especially one with whom he had only seen once?

Jack ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the report, letting out an angry hiss through tightly clenched teeth. His thoughts had travelled, again. He had lost his place, again. And he hadn’t digested any of the words, _again_. 

“Son of a…” he groaned out, looking at the intercom as it buzzed incessantly, wanting him to answer it. He pressed the button, growling at the speaker. “This had better be important.”

“Sir, you told me to remind you that you had a meeting with the sales department. Meeting Room A,” the receptionist’s voice answered him, not at all intimidated by the voice that was being growled at to her.

Jack chanced a glance at the clock. It was nearing two in the afternoon. The CEO’s stomach seemed to remind him that he still hadn’t taken a lunch yet as it grumbled angrily at him, Jack huffing as he began to gather the needed paperwork for the meeting.

As he was gathering the needed papers for the meeting, he eyed the report that was still on the screen, the one he couldn’t quite gather the focus to read. He turned the monitor more towards him and eyed the name of who the report was filled out by. 

“Reeze…?” he whispered out the name, attempting the pronunciation based on the name that was on the report. “Sales department, section D. Lowest section, huh?” He stood there, hunched over his desk, eyes scanning over the report, not distracted for the first time since he had stepped foot in the office that morning – finally able to focus and digest at least some of the words. “Hell, this makes more sense than any other report I’ve read.” He mumbled – read being a relative term, more like scanned. He closed the report with a smirk, half hoping that this ‘Reeze’ kid would be at the meeting.

After tucking everything away neatly, Jack made his way towards the large oak doors that separated his office from the rest of the Hyperion Corporation building, stepping outside of his office. “Don’t wait for me, I’ll be getting lunch after this stupid meeting.” His voice was sharp as he strode past his receptionist who was busy typing away at her computer.

“As you say sir,” she responded, only pausing to wish him a good time to which he scoffed at. How could anyone have a good time at a meeting?

His stride was long and fast as he walked down the long secluded hallway to the elevator, pressing the button to call the machinery so he could go to this damn meeting and just get it over with. Meetings weren’t exactly his favorite thing. It just reminded him of how many dumb employees were still employed at this corporation he now ruled, and how harder he had to work to fix it, starting from the bottom, and working his way up.

He rolled his eyes and heaved out a breath as he stepped into the opening doors and pressed the button to the designated floor that held the meeting rooms, arms crossing over his broad chest as he felt the elevator make its smooth decent down. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, enjoying the comforting ride and the still silence.

He immediately saw bright, glowing amber eyes staring back at him in the darkness behind his eyelids. 

His own mismatched eyes flew open and he frowned, hand running through brown hair, wondering why the dancer kept plaguing his thoughts. He hadn’t been to one of Moxxi’s shows in so long, was that the reason the dancer was making such an impression on him? Jack looked up as he heard the elevator’s chime go off, indicating that he was at the desired floor, stepping off and walking in those long strides of his to the meeting room. His mind was unfocused and he didn’t like it. He wanted to get this meeting over and done with and get back to work. _Real_ work. Work that didn’t involve him sitting down and listening to assholes to an hour or two or trying to read over an actually well-written report for once and failing because he – the CEO of Hyperion – couldn’t keep his focus.

He growled as he pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Moxxi, asking her when the dancer was going to perform next, an idea popping into his head. Maybe seeing the dancer perform one more time would get it out of his system. Perhaps it had just been so long since he had been to one of those shows, he had to poke at it a bit more until the gnawing was gone.

If Jack didn’t know any better, he could say he could liken it to the cravings he got when he needed to smoke…which he felt like he needed right now. His phone buzzing in his pocket made him pull it out as he stepped within the threshold of the meeting room. He felt the tension in the room as he made his way towards the chair, ignoring any and all as he read the text message.

‘How does tomorrow sound, Jackie?’ the message replied, following by a winking emoticon. Another message quickly followed as he sat down, placing the papers he had grabbed from his office on the table. ‘Lingerie Friday. You better come.’ Jack’s eyes narrowed as he pocketed the phone, staring ahead and immediately meeting the eyes of the sales rep from yesterday, his eyes wide as his body rigid.

“Oh, you’re that sales rep,” Jack said, breaking the tense silence of the room. Rhys swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing as he nodded, still silent. “What was it…?” Jack snapped his fingers, searching through his mind. “Reeze? Reece?”

“Rhys sir,” Rhys quickly corrected, making most of the members in the sales department look at him. He cleared his throat, hunching his shoulders to make himself look smaller. Facial recognition skills of a goldfish his ass. “My name is Rhys.” He added quietly.

Jack hummed in thought, turning to look at the sales department head. “Well, go ahead and start. I don’t have all day.” He said.

“Ah, of course, right.” The department head stammered, beginning the presentation. Rhys couldn’t help but notice that Handsome Jack’s mismatched gaze fell back onto him, and he sunk lower in his chair with the quietest and smallest whimper he could muster.

\--

Just like Jack thought, the meeting, presentation, whatever he just had to sit through was boring and pointless and he could never get back that past hour of his life. The only thing that kept him sane was the occasional glances he kept stealing at the sales rep that was seated across from him. For some reason, red flags kept popping up in his head as he looked at the slicked back hair style of the rep, some of the hair constantly escaping the style and making the sales rep slick it back with either his mechanical arm or his organic – it changed and kept it interesting.

He couldn’t understand why he was having the red flags. He didn’t know if it was just because the kid had an interesting look about him, the cybernetics, the slight movements he made that always made Jack’s eyes snap over to him instead of the presentation that he should be paying attention to. Had he met the kid somewhere before other than his office yesterday? Maybe somewhere around the building? He allowed himself to ponder those thoughts, mismatched eyes either staring at Rhys, or staring at the presentation, unfocused. And when those thoughts got boring to him, he allowed himself to think back to the night previous – where long limbs, pale skin and a hushed voice whispering to him were a sweet escape to the boring hellhole he was currently in.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard, “Rhys will you give your part of the presentation from sector D?” the department head asked, causing Jack to watch Rhys stand up, pushing the chair back at the same time.

“Yes…” Rhys replied, walking up to the front. “A-As you see…” he started, voice cracking, causing muffled chuckles in the back. From how close Jack was, the CEO could see the slight flush the chuckling caused the sales rep as he continued on with the rather short presentation, discussing how sales have gone up and whatnot, what would be more profitable and what could possibly hurt the corporation if they attempted it in the near future. It was a risky, but impressive move on the kid’s part, but it caught Jack’s attention – much more so than the department head’s lame excuse of a presentation. This was actually something that the department head should be doing instead of some sales rep from the lowest sector.

“Wait,” Jack said, causing Rhys to stumble his words and look at the CEO, eyes wide. “Wait wait wait, hold the phone.” He said, turning to look at the department head with a frown. “Are you listening to this kid right now?” he asked. The department head nodded, his look like a deer caught in the headlights. “He’s doing the presentation that you should be doing.” Jack pointed at the older man. “This is a sales representative from the lowest sector we have and last time I checked _you’re_ the boss. And I gotta be honest, I nearly fell asleep listening to you talk. So let’s get one thing straight.” Jack stood up, looking at the head of sales as he sat there, shaking. “You’re fired,” he looked at Rhys, who jumped when the CEO’s attention was suddenly directed at him. “You’re promoted since you’re the only one I’ve seen do actual good work around here. And now I’ve got to look for another new department head. Meeting done. Adjourned. Whatever. All the rest of you get back to work. I need to eat something.” Jack shoved away from the table, thick silence like a blanket falling over the room.

“You, kid with the name that sounds like that peanut butter chocolate candy.” Jack pointed at Rhys, crooking his finger with a ‘come with me’ motion.

“It’s…Rhys.” Rhys repeated himself, glancing at his now ex-department head who was hanging his head in shame.

“Yeah, Rhys. Come with me, let’s talk over lunch.” Jack flashed a grin as Rhys obediently followed.

\--

The two ended up at an expensive Italian restaurant, seated across from one another as Rhys looked over the menu, trying to avoid the looks that Jack was giving him as he decided on what to get…and how he was going to afford this. He didn’t have a second job for nothing. Even though that second job was…dancing.

“So, Rhys,” Jack started, setting his menu down and focusing on the man across from him who was still hiding behind his menu. “About…talking.”

Rhys peeked from above the menu, only his eyes visible as he nodded.

Jack couldn’t help but grin. “You really are the only one who’s doing a rather good job at the company, so why are you…or rather why were you still stuck in sector D? Since I just promoted you and all?” the Hyperion CEO grabbed his cup of water and sipped at it, eyes focused on every move that the other made.

Rhys let the menu fall, revealing himself to the intense gaze of the other and feeling his face heat up some because of it. “Well…actually sir, I requested it. I was offered promotions by my…ex-department head multiple times before.” Rhys replied, causing Jack to blink. That surprised him.

“Honestly, cupcake, that answer caught me off guard,” Jack replied, leaning forward. The nickname made the hair on Rhys’ neck stand on end and he sat up a little straighter. “Can I ask why?”

“S-Sir…” Rhys hesitated, bringing his organic arm to rub at the back of his neck. The two were interrupted when their waitress came and grabbed their orders, Jack ordering tortellini ricotta and spinach while Rhys simply ordered spaghetti with meat sauce, afterwards handing the waitress their menus. Rhys noticed that after the waitress walked away, Jack was staring at him, urging him to answer his question. “Sir I don’t think…” he jolted when he heard his phone ring, mouth hanging open as he couldn’t believe the ringtone that was playing at the moment.

It was Moxxi’s, the bass heavy and rhythmic, causing others to look over at their table at the odd and loud ringtone.

He couldn’t believe if he should thank her or curse her timing as he let it ring, staring at Jack. It would be rude to answer the phone when he was at lunch with his CEO of all people…when he had been invited of all things. 

Jack’s eyebrows rose. “You going to answer that?” he asked, watching as Rhys scrambled for the phone.

“Hello?” he asked in a huff, voice quiet, nearly a whisper.

“Rhys!” Moxxi chimed, her own voice loud and filled with excitement. Rhys nearly shushed her, but he figured that would be a little bit suspicious.

“Hi…mom,” Rhys tried, hesitant, making Jack raise an eyebrow. Wow it was weird calling Moxxi mom.

“Mom?” Moxxi replied, obvious confusion in her voice. “Rhys, honey, what are you talking about?”

“Sorry, sir, I have to take this…do you mind…?” he pointed somewhere more secluded, where he wouldn’t be disturbing other guests and Jack nodded, face unreadable as he watched Rhys climb out of the booth and walk off. Rhys only talked again when he was out of earshot. “Boss what’s going on this time? I’m…out to lunch…”

“With Jackie?” Moxxi giggled. “Oh Rhys, honey I knew he would like you, but I didn’t think he’d take to you that quickly. He’s working fast even for his standards.” Rhys groaned.

“What’s wrong now, boss? He thinks I’m talking with my mom and let me tell you, calling you my mom was probably one of the weirdest things that’s happened today…and a lot of weird things have happened today.” He replied.

“Okay, well first…don’t hate me, okay sugar?” Moxxi started, making Rhys regret ever taking the phone call. “But…Maya called out tomorrow. She’s got a hurt ankle when she did a double with Lilith yesterday right before you. Doctor said to rest it for a few days. She was supposed to do a solo tomorrow…” Moxxi’s voice trailed off.

“Boss…you do realize tomorrow’s a Friday,” Rhys said. Moxxi hummed in affirmation. “Boss, you do realize that tomorrow’s a…lingerie Friday.” Rhys added, running a hand down his face, lowering his voice as some customers to the restaurant walked past him. Moxxi hummed again, this time louder. Rhys was getting closer. “You want me to do a solo…on lingerie Friday?”

“It’s also the beginning of the month,” Moxxi added.

“So that means it’s themed as well, right…” Rhys sighed out. He didn’t mind the dancing. It was fun, he enjoyed the rush he got even though he always got nervous right before the dance – especially if it was a solo like Moxxi was trying to talk him into right now, and like she had done yesterday. But then there were the specialties, like every Friday night that had people coming back for more, so much more. Every first and last Friday was lingerie Friday, where people could see the dancers dance in the skimpiest outfits imaginable, and it was the best that the Red Light had to offer. It was the most popular out of any night that Red Light was open. It didn’t start until late in the night though, and only the best got in. Every first Friday of the month had its own theme as well. It was the specialties like Fridays and themed nights that kept the Red Light in business and a step above its competitors.

Rhys had only danced on one Friday before, and he had had a grand time, until someone had gotten too enthusiastic with a lap dance he had been giving and didn’t really want to let him go.  
They weren’t allowed to ever come back and he never came back on Fridays again. Until now.

“Jack’s asking for you by name,” Moxxi said, causing Rhys to startle from his thoughts.

“You gave him my name?”

“No,” Moxxi teased. “But you don’t have a stage name yet, honey. And he keeps asking for you. You really made an impression on him. Think about it, sugar. You know I won’t ever pressure you if you don’t want. I still remember the first and last Friday you ever danced. I completely understand, sweetie.” Moxxi’s voice lowered a few levels and Rhys knew she meant it. No matter how much she pushed or prodded, if Rhys didn’t want to do it, she wouldn’t push him. It made him love who she was, the best boss he could ever ask for.

“Thanks, boss. Tell Maya to get well for me so she can take over a few shifts for me next time.” Rhys teased with a smile.

“Oh, Rhys, honey. She’s going to kick you into next week if you ever say that to her.” Moxxi said with a giggle before hanging up. Rhys ended the call as well and walked back to the table, sitting down, realizing that while he was gone, their food had arrived, thankfully not cold.

“Sorry about that…parents, right?” Rhys shrugged.

“Wouldn’t know,” Jack replied, rather sharply and curtly. Rhys noticed that the CEO had waited for him to get back as he lifted up a fork to begin eating his tortellini, Rhys doing the same to begin to eat his spaghetti.

“Bad relationship…?” Rhys asked after a few moments of silence and clinking silverware against expensive dinnerware. Jack paused, fork midway to his mouth before he set it down, looking to his companion.

“Kid, there are some things you just shouldn’t ask me,” Jack warned, voice low and dangerous, sending shivers up Rhys’ spine as he focused on his spaghetti once more. “But enough about me…” Jack’s voice was pleasant once more. “I’d rather get to know the new employee I just promoted. Really, it’s not every day I spot a promising employee. Especially since I’ve been firing people left and right trying to whip this company into shape.” Jack brought a forkful of food into his mouth, chewing and swallowing before he continued. “You’re a breath of fresh air, pumpkin. I quite enjoy that.”

Rhys swallowed his own mouthful of food, rather forcefully as Jack said that, the words of praise making his heart flutter and his cheeks heat up more than he wanted them to as he poked at his food. “What’s there to know? I finished college recently, saw that the Hyperion Corporation was hiring and applied…I got in, although haven’t really moved up in the ranks since the beginning. I met a couple of friends here too, I’m roommates with one of them.” Rhys didn’t think there was much to delve into when he talked about himself, looking up at Jack through his eyelashes.

“You said you didn’t want to,” Jack replied, watching Rhys carefully. Rhys couldn’t exactly tell what was behind those mismatched eyes, but it sent an excited shiver through his spine. “About moving through the ranks, which is absolutely ridiculous, Hyperion is all about letting the people get the credit that they deserve. Good or bad. I saw how bad it was before and that’s why I want to make it better.” Jack snarled.

“Ah uh…yeah. Well…” Rhys scratched his head, a bit impressed with how passionate Jack was about getting Hyperion up off of the ground it had originally started on. He couldn’t tell Jack the truth though. That in the beginning he was struggling to make ends meet even living with Vaughn, which is why he had even started working two jobs. It had come to bite him in the ass though, since now he was working more shifts at the club. He had become a rather popular dancer there. “I just think my uh…work isn’t good enough.”

“Oh trust me, sweetheart,” Jack grinned, the answer seeming to work for him. “Your work is fine. It’s others that need to step up their game.” Rhys nodded and turned back to his spaghetti, the two falling into a rather comfortable silence.

\--

They returned back to the Hyperion building after their rather late lunch, Jack feeling rather full and having actually enjoyed the company of his lunch companion for once.

“So,” he started, turning and looking at Rhys. “Instead of being in sector D, I’m moving you to sector A of the sales department. I want you to basically think of all the important new stuff that goes on down there since you seem to be the only one with a working brain. I’d promote you to business head but there are a few…political issues that are making it hard to do that right now.”

Rhys’ mouth fell open. Sector A took years to get into. It didn’t have cubicles, only having large offices and most never saw it, let alone got into it. That’s where people thought of the new schematics for everything from weapons to mechanics to prosthetic arms, two of which Rhys was currently sporting. “S-Sir, are you sure?” he asked.

“After seeing you in action at that meeting and actually reading some of those reports, I couldn’t be any more sure,” Jack grinned down at Rhys who swallowed, nodding. “Now get to work, kid.” The two went their separate ways, Rhys still not believing that he just got promoted as he immediately went to his new…office.

He walked through the long, secluded hallways of sector A, feeling eyes on him as he reached his office, already having his name inscribed on the plaque as he opened the door. His cubicle belongings were sitting on an oak desk and his computer was already there as well.

He groaned as he ran a hand down his face. Whoever broke down his cubicle saw all of his Handsome Jack posters. He got to work setting up his office and computer, spending the rest of his workday making it feel more…welcoming.

After the office finally felt less cold, he stood back and took a look at it. The computer was set up and was ready to be used, there were little figurines on his desk, a small cactus as well – well taken care of, mind you – and a single cat hanging poster that said ‘Hang in there!’. He hesitated putting up the Handsome Jack posters though, sliding the box they still rested in underneath his desk as he exited his office, locking it with a set of keys he had been provided with on the desk, looking at the door with the frosted glass with a mixed expression, making his way out of the building.

Everything was suddenly going so well for him and so fast as he walked outside, tucking his hands into his pockets. He couldn’t even believe it was happening. Rhys kicked a stone away from the curb as he made his way to the apartment complex he called home – and shared with Vaughn. He couldn’t wait to tell his best friend everything about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry sorry sorry sorry  
> this is so late I know  
> I had such a difficult time writing this and had the worst writer's block  
> But then the writing bug hit me and I spit this out  
> And I'm just going to toss this here  
> also yay I'm slowly figuring out ao3's html  
> not beta'd as usual. If you see any mistakes, please let me know. And if you need anything else tagged, please let me know as well. Thank you all for the kind words/comments and all the kudos, you all make my day, week, month, and most of all you make my life and keep me writing. Thank you so much. <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /hides in a shame cube for the rest of my life/ goodbye friends i am gone

“You got promoted?” Vaughn asked around a mouthful of cereal.

“Yep,” Rhys replied, stomach still full from the expensive lunch that he and Handsome Jack had shared. Together. The feeling of even thinking that made heat pool down in his stomach.

“And you had lunch,” Vaughn started. “With Handsome Jack?” he finished, letting his spoon fall into the milk.

“Yes Vaughn. This is the third time I’ve said it,” Rhys leaned back in the chair he was currently sitting in, letting out an overly dramatic, exasperated sigh. “And he fired my department head too.” The taller of the two let his head rest on the table after leaning forward again. “Vaughn, what’s going on?” His whole head moved as he talked, looking over at Vaughn with a confused, mismatched look

“Of all people I thought you’d be happy,” Vaughn replied, taking another spoonful. “Handsome Jack has set his phasers to Rhys, figured you’d be stunned by now.” Rhys barked out a laugh and straightened up, looking at Vaughn.

“Oh my god you’re such a nerd.”

“Like you aren’t!” Vaughn retorted, laughing along. “All I’m saying is, both of us work our asses off for this damn company and at least one of us is getting some recognition. I’m a little sad it isn’t me, but hey, I’m making you pay more rent next time it comes around.”

“Vaughn, please.”

“Don’t ‘Vaughn, please,’ me,” Vaughn shook his spoon tauntingly at Rhys and effectively splashed milk on the taller’s face.

“Are you serious -,”

“Bro, I’m so sorry -,”

The two burst out into laughter, Rhys grabbing a napkin and wiping off his face. “I think that’s my cue to take a shower.”

“Don’t use up all the hot water,” Vaughn said. “And take off your arm this time!”

“You’re not my mother!” Rhys shot back, disappearing behind the bathroom door. He sighed as he leaned against the cool wood, letting everything wash over him like a gigantic wave. The events of the meeting, Jack promoting him, the lunch, the promise of tomorrow…it made his skin prickle and the hair on the back of his neck rise. He didn’t know if he was excited or nervous. Maybe a combination of both? 

He shed his clothes quickly, the sound of the fabric hitting the floor music to his ears as he turned on the water, turning the temperature to its hottest setting. Steam quickly filling the bathroom, fogging the mirror which Rhys swiped at with his organic hand, staring at himself for a few moments before the mirror was fogged up again, clouding his view of himself. He let his eyes linger on the fogged up image of himself, watching droplets of water roll down the reflective surface before letting out a sigh, unlatching his mechanical arm from its socket, gently laying it down on the counter and stepping inside of the shower, pulling the curtain closed.

The hot water hit him harshly at first, causing him to hiss at the surprise, turning his skin an angry red color, but Rhys got used to the harsh temperature, turning his back to the hot water and letting it ease away at his sore muscles and his worried thoughts. For a few moments he wanted some peace and quiet, he just wanted to allow himself time to unwind from the busy and honestly weird day he just had.

Nobody would have objected, right?

His flesh hand worked its way down his body, skin hot to the touch thanks to the scalding water and the anticipation of what was to come, he whimpered when he wrapped his hand around his limp cock using small, quick strokes to bring it to life. He didn’t want this to last long, just a small short session to relax tense muscles and empty his mind. His mind was too busy, filled with thoughts of work, the anticipation and anxiety of tomorrow, the lunch he had shared with Handsome Jack…

Handsome Jack…

Rhys’ hand lost its rhythm on his cock as he let out a small whimper even thinking about the Hyperion CEO, mismatched eyes fluttering closed, having to lean on the shower wall. The hard surface was cooler than his body and sent shivers down his body.

He licked his lips – mind focusing solely on the CEO as he lazily stroked himself, pace slowing and body heating up even more so under the hot spray.

It wasn’t the first time Rhys had done something like this to the thought of Handsome Jack, but this time he had more sensory details to go on instead of just imagination.

The thought of what he would taste like after just waking up, what he would say to Rhys when he saw him…and especially what he would do if he found Rhys in this compromising situation, hand on himself and stroking with slow rhythmic movements. He whimpered, biting on his bottom lip as he attempted to keep his sounds low, using the sound of the water to drown whatever came out of his mouth. Vaughn was right outside of the door after all.

He could remember the spicy taste of Handsome Jack that lingered on the cigarette when Rhys had stolen it away from right under the CEO’s nose, putting it right to his own lips. The action had sent a rush of power through him, one that he could never hope to repeat. He groaned softly through his teeth as his hand stroked himself to full hardness, twisting at the upstroke around his head, causing his hips to thrust into the steamy air. He really wished he had his robotic arm on right now because just one hand was not cutting it.

He leaned over some as he continued to thrust into his hand, soft, quiet pants escaping parted lips as he let his imagination run wild.

Jack would let him touch himself at first, allow Rhys to do most of the work, whispering praises to the lithe man before he would even think of stepping in, large hands running over his body and tracing every inch of skin that he could as Rhys would prepare himself for the CEO. One finger would turn to two, two would turn to three, and just to stroke the man’s ego, he’d wiggle a fourth inside of himself, just barely, giving the CEO the most coy smile he could muster with four of his fingers shoved up his ass. It would work of course, and Rhys would undoubtedly be on his back, screaming Jack’s name with the show he would’ve given the CEO before too long.

Rhys moaned at the thought of being on his back, facing Jack as he was thrusted into, hand moving faster on his now weeping erection, eyes sliding shut as he slammed his head against the shower wall. He was close…the fantasies played out in his head always got him to where he needed to be. Whether they were true or not. He let one eye slide open as he watched his hand, imagining it was bigger, rougher. The fingers thicker instead of long and slender like his own.

 _‘You’re a breath of fresh air, pumpkin.’_ Jack’s voice echoed in his head, causing his hand to move faster, his eyes sliding shut once more, squeezing them tight. The friction was just right, causing him to teeter over the edge, about to fall if no one caught him.

“J-Jack…” he whimpered out.

_‘I quite enjoy that.’_

“Jack…!” he muffled himself by biting his lip, spending himself on the shower floor with a low moan, stroking himself through utter completion until he couldn’t stand it any longer, leaning against the wall, panting gently. The bliss after reaching orgasm didn’t last very long when he did this by himself, usually feeling overcome by a sort of emptiness and guilt afterwards. Thoughts of whatever fantasy he had just imagined would never happen as he heaved himself from the wall, limbs feeling heavy as he finally began to wash himself with the last of the hot water, mind thankfully numb of most of worries. The water had just begun to get cold as he turned it off and stepped out, squeezing a towel around himself as he once more looked at himself in the mirror that was no longer fogged.

He didn’t see anything special there.

But others obviously did. At both of his jobs. Even Handsome Jack obviously saw something in him. 

A small smile creeped its way onto Rhys’ cheeks as he exited the bathroom after grabbing his robotic arm, making his way to his bedroom. “Water’s cold!” he shouted to Vaughn, still dripping water on the floor.

“Figured!” Vaughn shouted back from the living room, nestled on the worn leather couch with a bowl of popcorn and some comedy show on television. Vaughn was more of a shower in the morning type of guy anyway.

Once Rhys shut himself in his room he got himself in some comfortable boxers and night pants, the action looking easy since he had mastered it with only one arm. He set his robotic arm on his bedside table and nestled into bed, shutting his eyes, letting sleep over take him.

Tomorrow would be a long day – and a late night.

\--

The alarm ringing next to Rhys’ ears made the long limbed man groan as he reached over and slammed it down, effectively shutting the thing up. He sat up, hair a mess from sleeping on it wet as he yawned and stretched, body cracking delightfully in several places.

It took him no time at all to get dressed and reattach his arm. It was a routine and Rhys was all about routine. He stepped out into the living room – that was connected to the kitchen – of the apartment and wasn’t surprised when he saw Vaughn there, as well as Yvette.

“Hey sleeping beauty,” Vaughn said, pouring a cup of coffee and handing it to Yvette, who handed it over to Rhys after putting two heaping spoonfuls of sugar inside of the dark liquid. The cybernetic man thanking his friend and taking a sip, sighing. “Glad to see you’re finally awake.”

“You’ve still got some drool on your cheek,” Yvette teased, watching as the third party in the room reached up with his robotic arm to wipe away the spit that lingered on his cheek. “I still can’t believe you drool in your sleep, one would think you’d grow out of that.”

“Yeah well…” Rhys shot back, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Clever, Rhys,” Yvette replied with a grin.

“So, it’s a Friday night. I assume we all don’t have work tomorrow…I say we all do something tonight!” Vaughn suggested, causing to Rhys to cough around his drink, making his two best friends look at him at the outburst. “Rhys?”

“I uh…” he started, scratching the back of his neck. “I can’t guys, I’m sorry. I’ve got…other plans.” Rhys stared down at the black liquid sloshing around in the mug.

“Rhys…” Vaughn started, eyebrows furrowed, before Yvette stopped him with a single hand being held up.

“Rhys, is there something you want to tell us?” she asked, making the tallest of the three look up from the caffeinated drink. He looked at his friends, mouth opening as he took in a breath before shutting it again, tugging his bottom lip in between his teeth.

“No…” he mumbled.

“Rhys, we’re your friends, if there’s something you want…need to tell us, you can.” Yvette urged, setting down her coffee mug and walking to Rhys, setting his hands on Rhys’ shoulders. Rhys stared at Yvette, the person who had been a sister through his most trying times. When Vaughn and Rhys were struggling to make ends meet, she had given them shelter, food, and a shoulder to lean on – eventually helping them get on their feet and able to get a roof over their own heads. It was comforting to know that even after all that she didn’t ask for anything more…except for lunch here and there.

“It’s fine Yvette…I’m fine,” Rhys pressed, sounding a bit more confident. “I’m just…with the new promotion I just got…I don’t want to let Handsome Jack down, alright? We’ll finally make our way through this world, the three of us.” He added, watching as the both of them lit up.

“Alright, Rhys…” Yvette pulled her hands away to cross her arms. “But if you’re lying to me, I swear…”

“I’m not lying,” Rhys practically whined, downing the rest of his coffee in a few deep swigs. “Now I have to go. Don’t want to be late on the first day of my new job.” He shot both of his friends a wink. “Thanks for the coffee, Vaughn!” he exclaimed as he burst out of the apartment.

Vaughn and Yvette watched him run out of the door, failing to close it properly behind him as it swung back open. “Why do I feel like he’d be lost without us?” Yvette asked as she walked over and closed the door properly.

“Because he totally would,” Vaughn replied with a chuckle, leaning against the counter and sipping his own cup of coffee. “So…where do you want to go tonight? Just the two of us?”

Yvette hummed in thought, before she gasped and clapped her fist into her open palm. “I know just the place.”

\--

Rhys made it into work about thirty minutes early, the hallways of sector A of the sales department empty and deserted. It was strange walking through those hallways and not through a maze of cubicles like he was used to. He tried the door with the key he was provided and was surprised to find it…unlocked. Strange, he could swear he locked it. He pushed open the door and blinked when he saw Handsome Jack reclined back in the office chair, feet propped up on the oak desk and playing with one of his figurines.

“Gotta say, kiddo…didn’t really peg you for a nerd. You just keep surprising me. And what the hell is with the cactus? I mean come on.” He shot Rhys a playful grin, the scar on his face stretching some with the grin. The grin made Rhys’ stomach full of butterflies as his hand tightened into a fist beside him, his mind betraying him and thinking back to last night, with him in the shower with all of his fake, naughty fantasies, his face heating up some.

“Wha-what are you doing in here?” he asked, voice cracking a tad as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

“Kiddo…I own the building,” Jack responded, voice deep and dangerous, sitting in the chair properly now, green and blue eyes trained in on Rhys, trapping him in place. He seemed to be trying to read the younger male in the room. “I think the question is…” he stood up and rounded the desk, taking long, slow steps until he was right in Rhys’ space, nearly eye to eye – Rhys was a tad bit taller, yet the intimidating stature of Jack made him feel oh so small. “What are you doing here, thirty minutes early? Trying to impress me?” Jack’s mismatched eyes met Rhys’ before they trailed down Rhys’ body – pausing at a spot and focusing on it for a second before snapping back up to Rhys’ own mismatched eyes, expression unreadable for a flash before returning to normal, a smile tugging on his lips.

Rhys could smell the spice that seemed to just be Jack himself and he could feel his knees go weak. If he wasn’t leaning against the door at the moment, he would for sure have fallen to his knees in front of the CEO.

And how Jack would’ve loved that.

“Because guess what, kiddo? It’s working,” Jack husked against Rhys’ ear and Rhys let out the smallest, most pathetic whimper as he shivered at the whisper of breath against the sensitive skin of his ear. Jack chuckled as he pulled away, letting Rhys have his personal space back. “Welcomes aside, hope you like the new office…it was the biggest one we had available besides the one that is reserved for the department head. Still wish I could give you that position but some asshole who’s going through hair implants is nipping at the bit and I think I’ll have to give him the position because he’s just the slightest bit more qualified than you are. Had management training from a previous job and everything and sadly, you’re lacking in that department, you should really work on that, cupcake. Because honestly I’d really rather give it to you than him but…” Jack rambled on, acting like he just hadn’t tried to get Rhys all hot and bothered.

Because he just had. And the taller male’s head was still spinning from the sudden rush of heat that was suddenly just gone.

A sharp whistle made him look up from the floor he didn’t even realize he had been staring at.

“Am I too boring to listen to, kitten?” Jack asked, that particular nickname sending a jolt through Rhys as he pressed back against the door, shaking his head slowly.

“No…no sir. Of course not.” Rhys replied, words slow.

“Good. Well, glad you’re starting today. I’ll send you a few emails of blueprints and whatever to get you started. Look for anything that needs improvement, adjustments, errors, all that jazz. I’ll ease you into it, okay, pumpkin?” Jack shot him a wink that Rhys nodded at, finally standing up straight and moving away from the door. “Oh, phone.” Jack said as if in afterthought, holding out his hand.

“I’m sorry?”

“Phone. Give me your phone.” Jack urged. Rhys gave the device to him and within a few moments Jack was tapping away, handing the electronic back. “Put my number in your contacts in case I ever need to contact you outside of work. Don’t worry about contacting me to give me your number, I took care of that already.” He said, watching as Rhys gingerly took his phone back and pocketed it. “Really happy to have you on the team, Rhysie.” He clapped a hand on Rhys’ shoulder, squeezing and holding it there longer than anybody else normally would, before he let it slide off and walked out, raising a hand in a simple goodbye.

Rhys could still feel the CEO’s touch through his shirt as he slumped into his chair, rearranging his figurines in the way they had been before on his desk. When he knew he was alone, as in really alone, he let out the loudest and longest sigh and slumped back against the chair, running both hands down his face, mechanical and organic.

His stomach was still fluttering and he could feel the heat from his cheeks. He didn’t know that he had left a button undone on his button down-shirt…a bit of blue peeking out from underneath the shirt.

Today was going to be a long day and it hadn’t even started yet.

\--

Rhys had been right. The day was long.

Email after email had been sent to him for his approval. It was his first day of the promotion and if he could say so himself, he was doing a pretty decent job. He would look at the blueprints and with the help of his ECHO eye, spot any mistakes that could make the blueprint obsolete, better, or make it have a fatal error that could harm the company in any way, shape or form. He had a lull in the day to finally have a lunch, which was tiny since he had to dance later on in the day, and he was right back into work again. He didn’t know this promotion would’ve required most of his attention.

When the clock in his new office signaled it was time to stop for the day, Rhys leaned back in his chair with a satisfying crack of his back and stood up, gathering whatever belongings he had and making his way out of the door, locking it behind him – double checking it was locked by jiggling the knob before turning and walking down the hallway. He made his way out of the Hyperion building and towards the shadier side of town, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he jogged.

He would be early. Way early.

But for tonight, it would take a much longer time to get him ready.

The sight of Red Light was welcoming to say the least as the sun was just beginning to set, Rhys saying hello to one of the bouncers who grinned at him in a friendly fashion, letting him inside. It was odd seeing the club at this time of day. It was so quiet, the only people here were here simply for the friendly atmosphere, the food and the drinks. Not really for the shows that happened when it became dark. Rhys ducked into an Employees Only door and made his way backstage, sighing when he was finally hidden away from eyes that might’ve been able to recognize him. He doubted anyone there knew who he was, but there was always a chance.

“Rhys!” Rhys couldn’t turn around in time before a body crashed into him, hugging onto him tightly.

“Holy…!” Rhys stumbled some before managing to gain his footing, preventing both of them to fall to the hardwood floor of the backstage. “Boss?” Rhys exclaimed, looking at the older woman who seemed quite ecstatic to see him. Following behind her were three others, Fiona, Sasha, and Lilith.

Oh boy. With Lilith in tow, Rhys knew he was in for a busy and entertaining night. Lilith was also a dancer, one of the oldest and most experienced, the other being Maya, they had started the club alongside Moxxi, having built the club from the bottom and getting it to where it was today. Lilith had been the one to train Rhys when he had started, and he looked up to her. But she also helped out with makeup and picking out outfits for the dancers.

“Maya sends her thanks,” Lilith said, hand rested on a cocked out hip, other hand hiding behind her back. “She was also the one to request the theme for tonight.”

“Oh god, what is it?” Rhys asked, dread evident on his face. Lilith simply smiled and pulled out the hand hiding behind her back, revealing a set of cat ears and a cat tail, each with pins, both matching Rhys’ hair color perfectly. Rhys looked at the objects, then to Lilith, back at the objects, to Moxxi and back at the ears and tail. “You’re joking, right?” he asked, causing the girls to giggle.

“Come on, Rhys,” Lilith said. “We’ve done cat ears and tails before and it was a huge hit. The only thing that was bigger was the bunny thing. But that got way out of control.” Lilith rolled her eyes.

Rhys sighed and nodded, looking up at Lilith with trusting eyes as the older woman gently pet his head. “Go get cleaned up and get that nasty gel out of your hair. We’ll get you fixed up. I’ve got just the outfit for you tonight.” She said, watching as Rhys nodded and made his way towards the showers just down the hall.

“Do you think this will be pushing him too far, Lil?” Moxxi asked, crossing her arms. “The kid has done so much for us, and the last Friday he went through didn’t go so well. Some people just don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.” She pouted and let out a huff.

Lilith’s eyes flashed as she looked back at Moxxi. “I’ll watch the crowd like a hawk, boss. If anything goes awry, if anyone seems suspicious…I’ll be there. We’re one big…weird family. We all watch out for each other.” Lilith looked toward where Rhys had disappeared.

“Most of the time,” Fiona added, making Sasha punch her arm. “Ow!”

“I should probably get back to the bar. Business will pick up soon.” Sasha said, making her way from backstage to the bar.

“Alright, ladies,” Moxxi grinned, looking to Fiona and Lilith, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

\--

Making his way back to the Red Light was something Jack hadn’t thought he would’ve been eagerly anticipating.

Yet here he was, his steps quick and his breath escaping him in short exhales, heart thudding a beat too quickly for his liking as he rounded one last corner, the club already before him, music thumping away in the dark, quiet night, the line already long with patrons waiting to get inside. 

Jack stepped up to the bouncer, ignoring the moans and groans of annoyance from the other club-goers. He spoke his name, short and sweet. The response was a simple nod, the bouncer the same from a few nights ago. He remembered Jack’s face as he removed the thick velvet rope and allowed the CEO inside. 

The air inside of the club felt different from a few nights ago. It felt more electric, making the hair on Jack’s neck stand on end as he made his way over to the bar, setting himself down. A drink was immediately sliding over his way, once again glowing in the blacklight of the bar.

“Compliments of the boss,” Sasha said over the music and the shaking of the mixed drink she was making for another patron, pouring it into a glass and sliding it over to the person who had ordered who tipped her handsomely. Jack raised his glass to her before raising the glass to his lips and allowing the liquid to slide past.

He had to cough this time, the burn of the liquor fierce and surprising. He could hear Sasha laughing at his reaction, and shot the bartender a harsh glare, frown hard on his face before he realized something.

This was Moxxi’s cocktail.

The burn of the alcohol was as if she was subtly trying to tell him something. A promise of how tonight was going to go. 

He turned around and leaned forward on the stool to eye the heart shaped stage with mismatched eyes, watching stage lights change color and flash to the beat of the music that was currently playing. It wasn’t anything special, but it was something to keep people’s mind focused that there was a show coming…be prepared.

Jack was prepared. He brought the glass to his lips again, hesitating before taking a long sip, letting the liquid sit in his mouth. He was expecting the harsh flavor and the burn this time, not reacting when he finally swallowed, feeling the liquor slide down his throat. 

Jack was always prepared.

\--

“Oh…Rhys,” Moxxi sighed out as Rhys stepped out from the dressing room, hands clapping together in absolute awe.

“I…feel…so naked,” Rhys said, tugging on the lace with his robotic hand, Lilith shooing it away.

“Stop that,” she hissed. “Put on the sleeve. It won’t rip that way.” Rhys relented as he tugged on the sleeve that hid his robotic arm, nearly completing his look.

The half cybernetic man was wearing less than before – and it was beautiful. His pale skin accentuated the pale yellow lace panties that were accentuated with white bows on each of his hips. Stockings matched the pale yellow panties, riding all the way up his long, smooth legs, fitting snugly and hopefully not giving any leeway to fall down, especially when he danced. His eyes were no longer brown and blue. They were green and blue. His brown eye covered with a single forest green contact lens while they decided to allow his ECHO eye remain it’s natural color, the bright blue more visible in the light of the stage than any contact they had available to them at the moment. 

Fiona approached the scantily dressed dancer and got busy working on covering up his port and neck tattoo once more, while Lilith started clipping the cat ears snugly in his loose hair and the cat tail on the lace undergarments. 

When the two pulled back, they stared at the dancer, admiring their work.

“Give a little twirl, Rhys,” Lilith suggested, motioning with her finger, watching as Rhys did as she said. The tail was light enough that when Rhys spun on his heel, it spun with him, moving when he moved, as if it was actually a part of him. It worked well, and the clip remained hidden. The ears stayed in place as well. “It looks great.” Lilith smiled gently.

“You might actually be able to top your last performance with a look like this,” Fiona said, tucking her make up away. “If you dance as well as you did last time, that is.”

“You really think so?” Rhys asked, looking rather hopeful.

“We do,” Lilith agreed. “Just make sure to keep that eye in check. I know you want to remain secret while you work here, and that’s your biggest flaw right now.” The tattooed woman pointed at Rhys’ left eye. Rhys nodded in understanding, a determined look on his face as he looked at Moxxi, awaiting her approval.

“I really don’t think I could have done any better, sweetheart,” she said, stepping forward. “You’ve just got to get out there and give it your all like you normally do. Don’t let anybody take advantage of you. We’re all looking out for you.” She smiled gently.

“Hey boss,” Rhys murmured.

“Hmm?” Moxxi hummed.

“I think I finally know what my stage name can be,” Rhys raised his hand to play with the felt ears atop his head.

Moxxi grinned, having a slight idea of where the kid was going with this as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And what’s that, hon?”

“Kitten.”

\--

Nursing his fifth heavy drink of the night, Jack was feeling rather light headed, dizzy, and just all around happy. He wasn’t surprised this time around when the bouncers came and got him to lead him to the VIP section, Sasha already handing him another drink for the road, waving goodbye as most of the people left the bar to get a good seat to see the stage. Like before, the music was silenced and the lights faded to black, a hushed silence falling over the crowd.

This was what Jack had been waiting for. This show that would hopefully expel the dancer from his mind. The song started, immediately jumping into lyrics, tempo fast and beat just right, lights immediately flashing onto the stage, causing Jack’s eyes to blink to get used to the sudden brightness. He attempted to focus his eyes on the stage, eyes widening immediately as he drank the younger dancer in. Lace underwear, stockings, cat ears? A tail?

Jack wasn’t prepared.

Jack wasn’t prepared _at all._

Rhys was standing beside the pole, hand wrapped around the cold metal, eyes trained on the floor before he whipped his head up, hair flying before falling back in his face, ears on his head never moving an inch. Lilith had clipped them in well. He strutted around the pole once before holding onto the pole with both of his hands, mismatched eyes focused on the metal as he hoisted himself onto the metal. The song that was playing was fast, Rhys had to be quick as he worked the pole.

He grunted as he arched his back against the pole, his arm raising over his head to support himself while one of his ankles hooked around the metal so he wouldn’t risk falling, the pole resting against the curve of his ass. His other leg was outstretched and his other, the mechanical one, trailed up what he could reach of the upper part of his thigh, looking over his shoulder with the most innocent look he could at the audience. Over the music he could hear hooting and hollering, shouts and whistles. He smiled at them and their noises grew even louder as he grabbed the tail he was wearing and spun it around in his hand, letting out a throaty laugh as he slid down the pole, landing squarely on his feet as he made his way to the front of the stage.

Right in front of Handsome Jack again.

He kneeled down, equal sets of mismatched eyes opposite of each other meeting and staring at one another as Rhys tilted his head, Jack’s eyes focused on him, except not. Rhys didn’t think anything of it. At least the CEO wasn’t smoking this time. The dancer plopped down on the hardwood before falling down onto his back with a soft sound, raising one of his long legs, covered with the pale yellow stocking in the air, long arms reaching forward and untucking the tight fabric from the smooth skin, shivering a the cold feeling of his fingers from beneath the sleeve.

The show of beginning to remove the stocking made the audience roar, and he could see bills being waved in the air as he grinned, teeth flashing as he tugged the stocking back onto his leg and hoisted himself up, now leaning forward on all fours, lip tugged between teeth as he looked at Handsome Jack, the CEO now focused on him. The dancer gave him a wink that the CEO returned with a drunken grin.

Rhys stood up and made his way down one of the staircases, feeling a particular set of eyes on him as he made quite a show of getting to that particular man, hips swaying causing the tail still attached to him to swish against his skin as he made his way towards him slowly, plucking bill after bill from other patrons. 

He felt like he was on top of the world.

Rhys didn’t expect to get grabbed by a man and pulled into his lap after grabbing another bill mindlessly and making an attempt to walk away towards the one he was aiming for. Rhys struggled to get out of the stranger’s lap, but he was held down by rough, dirty hands on his bare shoulders, only hearing a deep, dark chuckle that reverberated through his entire body. It sent fear through his entire self and made him freeze, his eyes wide and his ECHO eye activating in his panicked state, glowing brightly, searching for anything to help him, anyone to help him.

He looked for help from somewhere, anywhere, panic settling in quickly. It was exactly like last time. When he was grabbed and he could feel something he didn’t want to feel against him, just like now, feeling an uncomfortable hardness pressing into his back, his back arching so he could just _get away._ He felt his stomach churn as his limbs flailed.

“Boss…!” he cried out, shutting his eyes tightly, tears about to swell in his eyes as he felt another hand grab him and he instinctively pulled away, but this one tugged in a gentler fashion.

“Hey, hey, hey…” a gentle voice, deep and soothing cooed to him. “It’s alright.” Rhys opened his eyes and saw Jack kneeling down before him, eyes gentle, soft…and cautious, mismatched eyes searching his face. Rhys sniffled, hearing the click and soft whirring noise of his eye shutting down, the bright light of his eye dimming before shutting off completely. He noticed that the music had stopped, the rough hands on his shoulders having fallen off and the loud audience that had once been watching him with enraptured eyes had become silent. He heard footsteps and saw Lilith and Moxxi run up to him.

“Rh…” Moxxi began before stopping herself with a quick exhale. “Kitten!” she corrected, happy that she had something to call Rhys now.

“Boss,” Rhys breathed out, body shaking. Jack looked at the two before slowly taking Rhys from the man, only now revealing that the CEO had grabbed the man’s throat in a rather threatening fashion.

“You fucker!” Lilith shouted, punching the man that had grabbed Rhys, sending him sprawling to the ground, having to make Jack let go. “You’re banned from the Red Light do you hear me? I don’t ever want to see you again!”

“Lilith, please this is my establishment, I do the banning,” Moxxi said in a calm fashion before clearing her throat and straightening out her outfit. “You are banned from the Red Light! For fear of getting your balls shoved so far up your ass you’ll be able to taste them or your dick getting cut off, you will never set foot back in here! You hear me?” Moxxi snarled, the man whimpering in agreement. “Now get out!” She kicked some dirt towards the man as he scampered to his feet and ran out the doors, the bouncers stationed making sure he didn’t try and sneak his way back in. “Add his name to the ban list. That makes what…ten now?” She turned towards Lilith.

“Eleven,” Lilith corrected.

“Goodness…” Moxxi shook her head, looking at Rhys who was curled up against Jack, still shaking somewhat. Jack not taking his eyes off of the dancer, soaking in every little detail of the younger man. Moxxi knew that Jack had seen the kid's ECHO eye activate. “Jackie, would you mind taking Kitten backstage?”

“Kitten?” Jack questioned, eyebrows raising.

“His stage name,” Moxxi answered. “Fiona will be there to take care of him…”

Jack nodded and stood up, easily carrying the dancer in his arms.

“Y-You don’t…have to carry me,” Rhys protested.

“Nonsense, Kitten,” Jack grinned, looking down at the dancer as he made his way backstage.“I’d be glad to.”

\--

Two sets of eyes watched as Handsome Jack, their CEO, carried the familiar looking dancer backstage, the drinks they held in their hands being held so loose between their fingers in utter shock some would be worried they would fall and the glasses would shatter.

“Did…did that look like Rhys?”

“Uh huh…”

“So…Rhys is a stripper?”

“Sure looks like it…”'

“Then that would mean…Rhys just got grabbed by some asshole…”

“Yep…”

There was a bit of silence as Vaughn and Yvette both took more sips of their drinks.

“Kind of want to punch the dick in the face.” Vaughn said, words slurred.

“That makes two of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who had to change the rating of the story  
> its me i had to  
> also forgive me for the wait when I said this would be out next day I got really sick because I was overworked at my job but I'm better now (mostly)  
> also this chapter went a completely different direction than I wanted it to go  
> poor Rhys i'm so sorry things will get better in the upcoming chapters  
> or will they?  
> if you guys need me to tag anything please tell me i'm so new at this and this is my first time writing anything that's explicit in any means so I'm sorry if it was too fast or not detailed enough ugh  
> there will be more to come though i assure you


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know when you don't write for almost/a FULL YEAR and you FORGET YOUR OWN WRITING STYLE  
> so everything looks weird to you? yeah that's me sorry if this looks weird.  
> also hiding in my shame cube again

After being brought backstage by Jack – the CEO had been chased away by Moxxi who was still horrendously mad about the whole ordeal and was close to breathing fire on anyone who got too close to Rhys – Fiona got the young dancer dressed and cleaned up, deft hands putting familiar clothing back around his body, a comforting sign to the still slightly shaken man as he was handed a water bottle that he downed in mere seconds. Fiona helped him remove the makeup that covered his port and tattoo, as well as helping him remove the sleeve from his arm, the cybernetic man rolling his shoulder with his newfound freedom.

“Thanks, Fiona,” Rhys said, giving her a small smile as he stood up, ignoring the worried look from his friend.

“You sure you’re going to be fine making your way home by yourself?” she asked, crossing her arms. It wasn’t usual that Fiona was worried, it wasn’t usual that they were all worried, but behind the closed dressing room door Rhys could hear Moxxi and Lilith chattering worriedly away at each other. He heard his name more than once. He stared at the wood for a second before nodding, turning back to Fiona.

“Yeah,” he said, voice cracking a bit, not sounding too sure of himself before clearing his throat. “Yeah I think so.” He tried again, sounding a bit more sure. Leaving the club when it was dark outside always made his skin crawl, yet it was something he had to get used to, and nothing bad had happened to him yet. Why would something happen to him now? Perhaps it was just because he had gotten grabbed that his thoughts were trailing towards the worst. “I don’t live that far away so…” he trailed off, eyes casting down towards the floor. His eyes wandered back up as Fiona walked up to him, hand clapping down on his shoulder with a faint squeeze.

“Well…be careful out there, Rhys,” Fiona said, her voice quiet. “It’s late. You have all our numbers if you need anything.” Her hand fell off of his shoulder and their eyes met before both of them headed out of the dressing room, Rhys nearly running into Moxxi who was standing right in front of the door.

“Are you heading home, hun?” Moxxi questioned, arms crossed across her chest. Rhys nodded, eyes darting around curiously.

“Where did Jack…?” he started before Moxxi giggled.

“I know you don’t want him – or really anyone to know who you are so I chased him out when he dropped you off back here,” she replied. “It’s funny, he really wanted to stay. Wanted to make sure you were alright, never seen him do that before. He wanted to punch that guy’s lights out just as much as I did and just as hard as Lilith did.” She shot Rhys a smile when the young dancer averted his eyes, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

The Handsome Jack was worried about him? That couldn’t be right…

“Anyway,” Moxxi waved her hand dismissively, making Rhys look back up at her, placing her hands on her hips. “I need to apologize for what happened here tonight Rhys.”

“Boss you don’t have to -,” Rhys began.

“No,” Moxxi snapped, causing Rhys’ mouth to close with a click of teeth. “I do need to apologize. When you are here, you are under my roof, under my protection. And this just doesn’t go for you Rhys, this goes for all of you.” She gestured to Lilith, Fiona, and Sasha – who had just walked up from closing up the bar. “This is the second time Rhys has been grabbed, and I’ll be damned if there’s going to be a third. All of you are like family to me you all are like my children. And I love my kids.” She smiled fondly, the small group surrounding her smiling back. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you while you were up there.” The club owner let out a sigh, one of her arms falling to her side as the other gripped the fallen arm tightly.

Rhys eyed Moxxi with a soft look. Tender moments with Moxxi didn’t happen like this very often, but it solidified their firm foundation with the club owner. It was one of the reasons why all of the workers under her called her ‘boss’ instead of her actual name.

“So,” Moxxi speaking again caused Rhys to pull away from his thoughts. “Rhys, no more Fridays for you.” Rhys blinked at the suddenness of that exclamation. He could understand the reasoning behind it. Both times he had been grabbed were on Fridays when people couldn’t control their drunken selves and just had to get a closer peek. But what if something like today had happened? What if someone was sick or hurt and someone had to fill in?

“But what if -,” Rhys started.

“Ah ah,” Moxxi held up a perfectly manicured finger, stopping Rhys in his tracks. “No buts, no what ifs. No nothings. I don’t want you getting grabbed ever again. You seem to be the prime suspect, Rhys. Let’s not paint a bigger target on you.” She gave him a grin that effectively meant the end to the conversation as Rhys simply nodded.

“Alright,” he agreed. “Guess I’m headed home then.”

“Be safe, Rhys.”

\--

Walking home from the club when it was dark outside always seemed to send shivers up Rhys’ spine. Every shadow seemed to move and creep closer towards him, and every alley he passed held danger. Those feelings seemed to increase tenfold tonight with the events that had previously unfolded as he curled in upon himself, arms wrapping around his body, steps quick and deliberate. Even when he was just on the outskirts of the bad part of town, it didn’t make him feel any better. Rhys kept his head low and his eyes on the ground, focusing on where he had to go.

He only started to relax when the streetlights became more frequent and the lights from twenty-four hour shops illuminated the sidewalk before him. He let out a breath that he swore he had been holding in ever since he left the Red Light, but that would be downright impossible. Feeling more relaxed, he walked at a slower pace, enjoying the night air and just trying to let his mind drift away from anything else other than the events of the night.

He paused underneath a streetlight when he started passing by the darkened Hyperion building, looking up at the windows that were only lit up by the occasional emergency light. His eyes quickly scanned each window, not exactly sure what he was looking for, but his attention was quickly seized when there was a flash of light at the top.

The top floor was where all the offices of the higher-ups were. Managers, executives, Directors…

But this office that just lit up, was Handsome Jack’s. Rhys watched as a silhouetted figure slowly approached the window, looking down at the street below. Rhys could hear and feel his ECHO eye clicking and whirring into action, the bright blue light emitting from the machinery lost to him as he took in every aspect of the shadowy figure above him.

As soon as the name came up before him, he panicked, cursed, turned on his heel and ran as fast as his already tired legs could carry him to his apartment building, unknowing of the pearly white grin and the set of mismatched eyes following his fleeing figure until he disappeared into the night.

\--

Rhys arrived at the apartment complex heaving breaths. He was by no means a marathon runner, or a short distance sprinter…he just wasn’t into sports or running at all. Dancing didn’t seem to bother him all that much, plus he enjoyed it, running just tired him out, and he hated it. He dug for his keys in his pants pocket, expecting Vaughn to be asleep by now – yet habit had him try the door anyway – surprised to find it unlocked.

It creaked as it opened, the tall male peeked his head in just as he heard a hiss of pain.

“Hold still.”

“It fucking hurts! Why aren’t you more gentle?”

“Hey, you’re the one who had to chase after the guy.”

“Hey, how was I supposed to know he had a mean left hook?”

“He was also at least six feet tall.” There was a small snicker.

“Don’t even…”

“Uhhh…” Rhys started, staring at his friends. Yvette was currently patching up a thoroughly beaten up Vaughn who was sporting a split lip, a nasty looking black eye, and it looked like his cheek was a bit swollen. “Do I even want to ask?” he asked.

“You might as well since this was basically your fault,” Yvette replied, not looking away from attempting to clean up the split lip Vaughn was sporting, the shorter man hissing as the rubbing alcohol touched his open wound.

“That hurts Yvette!”

“You are such a baby,” Yvette tossed the cottonball into the trashcan before turning around to face Rhys who was looking a bit nervous at the moment. “Wanna tell him where we were, Vaughn?”

“What? Oh,” Vaughn looked over at Rhys, who met his eyes and the shorter man averted his eyes. “Well…when you said that you had other stuff to do tonight, Yvette and I decided to try out a new place we heard about, well, she heard about. She said it had amazing wings and some great shows. And I didn’t really know what she meant by show so I went with her thinking it was a play or they had sports on television, but I think you know what I mean by ‘shows’ because holy fucking shit dude you were the show!” Vaughn couldn’t help but exclaim the last part in a tumble of words that had Yvette rolling her eyes and her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I said to break it to him lightly,” she mumbled.

“No but I mean -,” Vaughn started, head whipping around to look at Yvette before he heard a quiet exhale. “Rhys?” he turned back around to look at the tallest in the room.

“I uh…I wanted to tell you guys…I mean…” Rhys couldn’t quite find the words, metallic arm finding organic and gripping tightly. “Look…I wasn’t ditching you guys, I swear I just…” he tried, looking to the floor before raising his mismatched eyes, his friends waiting quietly. The silence only added to the unease the cybernetic man was feeling as he felt the cold metal against his arm tighten as the length of time grew.

“Look, man,” Vaughn started, before a hand was held up by Yvette.

“The job,” Yvette started, causing Rhys to look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “It is a job, right?” she received a nod. “When did you start it?”

“When you were still helping Vaughn and me get on our feet,” Rhys answered. “Both of us – even with our combined paychecks could barely make rent in this damn apartment, much less pay for food for ourselves…” Rhys looked over at Vaughn who was leaning back against the kitchen countertop, nodding along with the story. “I decided…to look for another job to help us along. I didn’t think we’d want to rely on you forever, nor did you want to support us forever.” Yvette nodded, silently urging him. “It took a while, and the quickest place I found was well…the club, Red Light.” Rhys let out a breath. It was all out now, his friends would know everything know.

Their faces were unreadable at first, before Yvette snorted. “Of all the things…I did not expect you to be a stripper, Rhys.” She said before bursting out laughing.

“Wh-what?” Rhys stammered, turning to Vaughn who had also broken out into a large grin. “Okay hold on, I’m not-,”

“Who knew you could bend like that, buddy?” he asked. “I’m a little jealous.”

“You’re jealous? I’m jealous!” Yvette exclaimed, placing her hand on her chest. “Rhys, you’ll have to show me some moves sometimes, that routine you did actually looked kind of fun.”

“Well besides when you got grabbed,” Vaughn interjected.

“Well you took care of that,” Yvette said, walking around the kitchen counter and towards the fridge, opening it up and inspecting the contents. Rhys still had no idea what was going on. They weren’t mad? Nor were they ashamed of him?

“So did that red-haired chick,” Vaughn added. “I’ve never seen someone punch that hard. Looked like it hurt, but that guy still had some fight left in him.” Vaughn gingerly touched his lip and flinched.

“Wait wait wait wait,” Rhys said, waving his hands. Both of the other occupants in the apartment looked up, Yvette holding an apple taken from the fridge. “You guys are…okay with me being a stripper- I mean dancer?”

“From your mouth, not mine,” Yvette said with a grin as she bit into the red fruit with a loud crunch, chewing loudly and swallowing before speaking again. “But yeah, we are. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You did a great job up there, bro,” Vaughn said, shooting Rhys a grin. “We’ll have to go back and watch you again, maybe one where you actually finish your dance.”

“Guys…” Rhys mumbled, smile coming to his face before he realized something, looking down at Vaughn. “Wait, what happened to your face?”

“Hasn’t he always looked that way?” Yvette asked with a grin as Rhys attempted not to let out a chuckle as Vaughn shot both of them glares.

“I ran after the guy who grabbed you and fought him for your honor,” Vaughn replied with a smile.

“Vaughn lost,” Yvette said. “You have no honor anymore. Sorry Rhys.”

“Vaughn!” Rhys cried out as Vaughn laughed, cringing as the laughter hurt his split lip, Rhys joining in on the laughter.

\--

Rhys dreamt that night of large hands running over his body, touching every inch of skin that they could reach. Mismatched green and blue eyes raked over his form as the lithe form arched off of the bed when the hands touched a particularly sensitive spot, noises ranging from soft to loud escaping thin lips – noises coming unhindered as the hands continued their exploration.

A rough voice echoed through the dark recesses of Rhys’ mind, words lost in the haze as Rhys struggled to make out the whisper, whimpering gently as he attempted to lean and arch into every single feather light touch he felt – whether they be real or imaginary, he didn’t care.

‘Kitten,’ the rough voice echoed once more through the mist, causing Rhys’ mouth to fall open and his head to fall towards the sound, trying to catch more of the glorious sound. It didn’t last long though, his damned alarm blaring causing his eyes to fly open and the ghosting touches of large alien hands to fall away as he groaned, sitting up as he rubbed his organic hand down his face, glaring at the alarm clock that blinked angrily at him. He reached over and shut the loud thing up, flopping back down on his bed as he looked up at his ceiling, eyes falling shut once more, attempting to fall back into the dream he had been in.

There was no such luck, the wonderful dream having been lost as the cybernetic man huffed out angrily, throwing the blanket away from himself before getting dressed. Not having to work today meant that he and his friends could do anything. They could finally have the time that they have been missing out on since he had been picking up the extra shifts at the club.

He climbed out of bed, baggy shirt exposing one of his pale shoulders as he padded outside of his bedroom, yawning and covering his mouth with his only hand, not having bothered to put on his robot arm. He walked into the kitchen and let out a quiet chuckle as he could hear snores coming from Vaughn’s room.

Rhys may drool in his sleep, but Vaughn snored louder than anybody else Rhys had ever heard.

Approaching the kitchen, the one armed, cybernetic man took to making coffee, really the only thing he could do one handed. He wasn’t awake enough to attempt anything else, and even if he wanted to, cooking wasn’t exactly his specialty. He waited until the coffee pot was full before pouring himself a cup, putting in the right amount of sugar before seating himself down on the couch, turning the television on, and making sure the volume was low. He didn’t want to disturb the beast.

Though the smell of coffee would’ve probably woken him up anyway.

Rhys was halfway through the morning news before he heard footsteps and the clanking of glassware. “Coffee’s fresh!” he called over his shoulder, sipping at his own sweetened black liquid.  
“Why did you make it so early?” Vaughn groaned from the kitchen as he made his own mug, dragging himself to sit beside Rhys.

“Because I want to make it up to you guys,” Rhys replied, setting his mug down. “Today will be all about us! The deadly trio, back at it again!” Rhys exclaimed, causing Vaughn to wince. “Hangover?” Rhys asked, eyebrow rising. He had forgotten that Vaughn wasn’t exactly tolerant of alcohol. Vaughn nodded in response, holding a hand to his head as he went to the cabinet that held all of the medications they would need to relieve aches and pains…and hangovers. Rhys watched Vaughn down some painkillers, wash it down with coffee, and then finally join him on the couch. “Yvette head back home last night?” His answer was a short nod, followed by Vaughn taking a huge mouthful of coffee. “Well, what do you want to do today?”

“We never had that movie night, could turn it into a movie day,” Vaughn suggested, offering up a more perky smile thanks to the coffee.

Rhys smiled in response and grabbed his phone, texting Yvette their plans. “Sounds great, buddy.”

\--

He opened his eyes and immediately flinched, momentarily blinded by the bright lights illuminating the familiar heart shaped stage before him. He was sitting in a plush leather seat that seemed so familiar to him. It was so comfortable and relaxing he didn’t want to move, his eyes about to fall shut once more until a soft, cooing voice called to him.

“Is my dancing really that boring?”

Jack’s eyes snapped open and he focused on the stage where the slender, long limbed dancer that had been plaguing his dreams was standing before him, hand loosely gripping the pole as he stared down Jack with that piercing mismatched gaze of his. He was dressed in the lace outfit from the previous night, minus the cat eats and cat tail. Jack stared him up and down, catching the dancer’s gaze when his roaming eyes caught his eyes once more. The dancer released the pole, fingers dragging along the cool metal, smug smile on his face as he approached the edge of the stage, walking over towards the CEO with a sense of purpose, his feet not even making a sound in the already silent room. The dancer knelt on his hands and feet, so close to Jack’s face and yet still so far away. Jack attempted to lean in closer, but it was as if some unseen force was keeping him rooted to the back of the leather chair.

“How about we try something different?” the dancer asked.

“Fuck yes kitten,” Jack answered, eyes closing against the bright lights before opening once more, noticing that the dancer was now directly right in front of him, like he had been when he had taken the cigarette directly from Jack’s mouth. The memory made a shiver run up the CEO’s spine and didn’t help his already heated body.

The dancer smiled and placed both hands on the arms of the leather couch, using those rests as leverage as he slowly, ever so slowly climbed up, his legs on either side of Jack’s hovering just over the CEO’s lap. Mismatched green and blue eyes trailed down Jack’s body and eyed the large bulge that was resting in Jack’s slacks, eyes shooting back up and sending Jack a grin, simply lowering his thin, lithe body ever so slightly – so teasingly, but not touching just yet.

Jack almost growled, the dancer fit almost too perfectly in his lap, the way his legs were spread for now across Jack’s lap made his eyes wander, and he could not help but notice everything he saw. He noticed the way the dancer’s back curved, the way he was bony, yet still had a bit of a form – kid needed to eat more – the way his whole chest filled out when he breathed, small details that Jack didn’t think he would notice…but did. The dancer noticed Jack staring at him and flashed a smile full of white teeth, finally lowering himself onto the hardness that was causing Jack such trouble.

Jack let out a sharp gasp at first as the dancer began to slowly grind on his clothed erection, head pressing back against the leather seat as he kept his eyes trained on the lithe figure before him, not seeming to have any trouble or issues watching as Jack started to tear apart at the seams. The dancer smiled at Jack’s reactions to his movements and moved himself even closer to Jack, his bare chest against Jack’s clothed one as he continued the rhythmic gyration of his hips against the CEO. Jack breathed out sharply, finally seeming to regain control of his arms as he held onto the dancer’s hips and attempting to grind even harder. His reply was the dancer pulling away from him and stopping his hips completely, swatting the CEO’s hands away from his hips.

“Don’t touch,” the dancer teasing purred out as he immediately started rotating his hips against Jack once his hands fell to the side. It was as if to a beat that Jack couldn’t hear. His hips would go at a slow almost agonizing pace that had Jack gripping the leather cushions of the seat, and then at a quick, rapid pace that had Jack squeezing his eyes shut tight. He felt a hand, soft and warm, caress his right cheek, urging him to look back at the dancer. He was shocked when instead of the blue and green eyes he was so used to seeing before…he saw brown and blue, the blue eye glowing softly and the gently sounds of clicking and whirring.

\--

Jack jolted awake, head flying up from the stacks of papers he had been trying to get done for days now. He groaned, running a hand down his face and frowning even deeper when he realized that, gross, he had drooled a tiny bit. Handsome Jack doesn’t drool. He also noticed he had another…slightly harder problem and he groaned as he tried to will it down. He didn’t have time for this. He was behind enough as it was.  
He looked outside to the sky that was filled with hues of reds, oranges and with hints of purple, wondering how long he had been asleep. He had come here directly after being kicked out of Red Light when he had dropped the dancer off.

The dancer who was still plaguing his dreams.

He groaned out when even thinking about the lithe creature made his dick twitch in his pants and he adjusted it ever so slightly as he stood up, looking at the crumpled – and slightly wet – stack of papers.  
They could wait until Monday. They’d be dry by then too.

He grabbed his bag and exited his office, looking down at the tent in his pants with an expression that one could call…disapproving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uhm, I can't guarantee updates will be...consistent.  
> as you can tell.  
> work and school and just life in general, but I will try not to make you guys wait almost/a full year next time. please forgive me.  
> and I should probably play the rest of the chapters in the game too.  
> I tried to make it super long for you guys this time. also I have a feeling I might edit this chapter in the future because looking at this one particular one bothers me so much...but I don't know when that will be. just warning you guys ahead of time.  
> but yeah fuck you telltale Yvette will always be a part of my bro trio.


End file.
